Falklands assembly member warns of Argentine ‘economic war’

Lewis Clifton, a member of the Falkland Islands legislative assembly, told islanders at a public question-and-answer session in Stanley on Monday evening that Argentina is waging an “unprecedented economic war” against the territory, home to about 3,600 people. Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has legislated to criminalise companies and individuals involved in the islands’ nascent oil industry.

What has Argentina done?

Clifton said Milei, who faces a downturn in domestic polling and an upcoming election, had suggested the fisheries sector, on which the islands currently rely for their prosperity, could be next. The assembly member described the Argentine pressure as more “vehement and belligerent” than anything seen since 1982 and said it had the potential to threaten the islands’ economic development. Argentina has also taken the dispute to international forums, including a threat of unilateral action over the Falklands at the UN assembly.

How has Britain responded?

Andy Burnham and foreign secretary Ed Miliband restated the UK’s solidarity with the islanders’ desire to remain British and promised legislation that might offer some protection against the financial damage imposed by Argentina’s economic sanctions. The Foreign Office also sent representations to Interpol suggesting the agency reject an Argentine request for arrests relating to the dispute. London’s stance followed a two-week deadline set by Milei for the UK over the Falklands oil project.

Could the dispute turn military?

Britain’s military presence in the south Atlantic makes a military threat from Argentina largely hypothetical: about 1,800 personnel at Mount Pleasant airbase and on Ascension Island, four Typhoon jets, a ground-based air defence system and the patrol ship HMS Medway. Argentina has instead pursued the dispute through legal channels, including a claim filed at a sea tribunal over a Falklands oil project.

Who lives on the Falkland Islands?

The 778-island archipelago, about 480km east of mainland South America, had 1,800 inhabitants four decades ago and a wool-based economy dependent on UK government handouts. It now has roughly 3,600 residents, growing at 3% year-on-year in recent times, drawn by a 26% top rate of tax, good pay and opportunities in what the Guardian describes as a largely self-reliant economy. About 70 nationalities are represented, among them Zimbabweans who came to clear mines after the war and Filipinos, the largest minority group, who arrived to work in social care and services in the late 1980s and 1990s.

What do islanders say?

Norma Edwards, 84, whose husband Roger, 80, a former Royal Marine, was attached to the SAS during the 1982 conflict, said: “I have never trusted the Foreign Office and I have been proven right.” Clifton said his family’s residence in the islands dates to the late 1870s, and that the current Argentine campaign was of a different order: “Perhaps a more vehement and belligerent tone than [seen since] 1982, because it has the potential to threaten our very economic development.”

Frequently asked questions

What is Argentina doing to the Falkland Islands economically?

Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has legislated to criminalise companies and individuals involved in the islands’ nascent oil industry, and has suggested the fisheries sector could be next, according to assembly member Lewis Clifton.

How many people live on the Falkland Islands?

About 3,600 people live on the Falkland Islands, up from 1,800 four decades ago, across an archipelago of 778 islands about 480km east of mainland South America.

Does Britain have a military presence in the Falklands?

Yes. About 1,800 British personnel are stationed at Mount Pleasant airbase and on Ascension Island, supported by four Typhoon jets, a ground-based air defence system and the patrol ship HMS Medway.

With reporting from The Guardian.

Stock image, not from the events described. City Skyline — Joe deSousa / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)