 The World and the UK is getting ready for the 2012 Olympics. Today, May 4, 2012, security forces in the UK have continued their preparations but attention has been drawn to an advert from Argentina. Thirty years ago Argentina and the UK were fighting a war over ownership of the Falkland Islands. The Thirty years anniversary of the war beginning passed with some remembrance ceremonies and Argentinian protests. It would seem that the matter is not forgotten, not by a long chalk.
A controversial advert, filmed by a company affiliated to Sir Martin Sorrell and featuring an Argentinian athlete training in the Falklands and on a war memorial has caused anger. The advertising company boss Sir Martin Sorrell has said that he was shocked when he saw the footage.
Y&R agency based in Buenos Aires, which is a subsidiary of Sir Martin's advertising group WPP, were responsible for making the film. Sir Martin said, "The ad is totally, and I mean totally, unacceptable. The agency has formally apologised for any offence or pain caused. We are appalled and embarrassed by it."
The ad has been aired on prime time Argentinian television to mark the anniversary of the sinking of the General Belgrano warship, which was hit during the Falkland conflict. The Argentinian government have now been asked to pull the advert as it is "not in the spirit of the Olympics"
Tags: Falklands, Argentina, Conflict, General Belgrano, controversial Olympic advert
 It is almost 30 years to the anniversary of the start of the Falkland Conflict between the UK and the Islanders on one side, and Argentina on the other. In the last few weeks TEK has reported on Prince William's tour of duty on the Falkland Isles, an apparent show of strength by UK Naval forces and the U K company's search for oil in the waters off the Falkland Isles. During this time the President of Argentina has been vocal as far as the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands goes. It seems that she, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, is ready to do battle, hopefully only verbally, for the Falkland Islands.The Islands are situated miles away from the UK and are part of our Colonial heritage. It could be likened to Argentina owing the UK Isle of Man. However the UK government maintains that as long the Falkland Islanders want to stay under British rule we will do what it takes.In the conflict of 1982, more than 600 Argentinian and 255 British troops died. Surely no-one wants to go down that road again. A negotiated agreement must be possible. As the Anniversary approaches other South American countries are joining the cause of Argentina. Today March 20, 2012, Peru has announced that the British Royal Navy are no longer welcome to visit Peru. According to the BBC " HMS Montrose had been due to dock at the El Callao naval base this week. The UK Foreign Office said officials could have raised concerns with Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne when he was in the country last week".The Peruvian Foreign Minister Rafael Roncagliolo has said that he supports the Argentine claim that the Falkland Islands or Las Malvinas should belong to them. Cancelling the visit of HMS Montrose he said, "This decision has been taken in the spirit of Latin American solidarity commitments undertaken in the framework of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) with regard to the legitimate rights of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding waters."During the previous conflict Americans to the North, that is in the USA. stayed neutral.Argentine Minister Hector Timmermann has already threatened the UK with legal action over its oil exploration. The UK Foreign Office has said that it regrets Peru's cancellation of the Royal Navy visit, saying, "HMS Montrose was scheduled to make a short visit to Peru as part of a routine deployment to the region"A Foreign Office spokesman said "This was agreed as an act of friendship and co-operation between Peru and the UK. Ship visits are a sovereign decision for states, but we regret that Peru has revoked its previous agreement to this visit. This is despite the Peruvian government having had the opportunity on Friday to raise any concerns it had about this agreed co-operation."UK PM David Cameron has reiterated that the Falkland Islands sovereignty is not open for negotiation, as long as the majority of the islanders wish to remain with the UK as its country.
 Early in February 2012 TEKJournalism reported that Argentina had expressed concerns over what it saw as the increasing militarisation of the Falkland Islands. In April 2012 it will be the 30 year anniversary of the Falkland conflict. In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falklands initiating a conflict with the UK and the islanders. Since the conflict ended the issue of the sovereignty of the Falklands has not been resolved, at least not as far as Argentina goes. TEK's February report touched on oil exploration around the Falklands. At that time it instigated an interesting but heated debate on Facebook. Having been challenged on the facts of the matter we dug a little deeper. This led to an update of the report with regard to oil. Today March 16, 2012, the latest news regarding the Falklands issue seems to confirm that our initial report was indeed correct. Whilst the UK may maintain that it is simply hanging onto the Falklands because the people of the Islands want to remain with a sovereign British Rule, oil could be at the heart of the matter.Argentina has now threatened court action over the UK Falkland Islands oil exploration. The Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timmerman called the behaviour of the firms drilling of the Falklands as "illegal intimidation". Not surprisingly the UK Foreign Office has claimed that the oil drilling is a legitimate commercial venture. UK PM David Cameron has reiterated that the UK will "continue to protect and defend" the islands. Perhaps now we at least know in part why.Falkland conflict history here
 2012 is the 30-year anniversary of the conflict between the UK and Argentina over ownership of the Falkland Islands. It is fair to say that until the conflict broke out in 1982 few people in the UK were aware of the Falklands, its location and its sovereignty. The Islands are located of the coast of Argentina many miles from the UK and British life. The small population of the islands however want to remain as British subjects and so it would seem that if necessary we would go to war again.In the last few weeks some would say that the UK has either been rubber stamping its ownership of the Falklands or goading the people of Argentina. Prince William has been stationed there for a six-week tour of duty and the UK has sent one of its few remaining warships into the area. UK authorities claim that HMS Dauntless is simply replacing an existing warship as a matter of routine, as they do with regards to Prince William's presence in the region. There is no doubt though that the UK is edging its bets. The Falklands is better defended than it ever has been. It is generally accepted that the islands, if lost or invaded, would be hard to re-capture. Great Britain still claims it is all about the people of the Falkland Islands and their wishes but you have to wonder if that is the case. The amount of money all of this will cost can only leave the conclusion that more is at stake. Could that be oil? The Falklands is rich in oil and gas. Some pundits would recommend investing what you can in shares. Although oil exploration was put on hold when prices dropped now that the world, as far as oil is concerned, is imploding Falklands oil could be a very useful asset. The President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez, is to lodged a formal complaint with the UN. She has said, "We will present a complaint to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, as this militarisation poses a grave danger to international security."Whilst much of what is going on right now is political posturing and a war of words it is a case of watch this space. Update: According to the comments below there is no oil in the region. According to investors it seems that there is. Plus it is claimed that Argentinians have had their eye on the Falklands for some time again. As they dispute the island's sovereignty presumably they always keep one eye on the islands. Great Britain has gradually shed itself of its colonial past and to this blogger the Falkland islands appear to be part of that long gone past. Where this puts the people living there I do not know.Media reports online claim that only a third of the population were born on the island and that a handful of locals wanted to lose British sovereignty back in 1982. Yesterday, February 7, 2012, Dick Sawle the country's leader said he needed nothing from any country including the UK, except for miliary power. Speaking on BBC 2 he said, “When talking about the Falkland Islands, there are three parts involved in this: the British government, ours, which is a democracy and Argentina,” although Argentina only acknowledges the United Kingdom for negotiations.We are always willing to talk to Argentina about many issues except our sovereignty, because we want to continue with our self-determination and determine our own future. Our sovereignty is not negotiable. There are things going on here all the time, such as Prince William doing his job as a helicopter pilot. If people want to read something else into that, then it is not true. And the HMS Dauntless is a Type 45 ship replacing a Type 42 one, which was already pretty old. Its deployment is normal and something like this happens in any modern military force” Do British people want to undertake another Falkland conflict if necessary? Do we agree with the cost of protecting those Islands? Are we to get any say in the matter? Millions of us as opposed to a few thousand? Mr Sawle concluded, “Deep inside, we’re all very British, and many tourists visiting us say we’re more British than the British. We have our own traditions and British traditions as well. We also have people from other countries living peacefully among us: people from Chile, Saint Helena and Argentina, who we have no problem with. There is no discrimination towards other nationalities” Yes you are more British than the British because you are not British in this British blogger's opinion. A 2010 report set the cost at £69m to maintain a military presence on the Falklands Islands in 2010-11. With increased problems it will be an increased military cost. The UK military is currently cutting jobs in order to try and balance the books. Falkland Islanders do not pay British taxes. A UK representative of the island in 2010 said, "We, in particular, have made tremendous strides in developing our economy and we are proud of the fact that we require no budgetary aid from the UK. In fact, should oil be recovered from our territorial waters in commercial quantities, then we should be able to make an even bigger contribution to the cost of our defence. There is no doubt that the UK economy will benefit from any such development"Sukey CameronThe Falklands worth every penny? You decide.
 It is 30 years since Argentina and the UK went to war over ownership of the Falkland Islands. The conflict was never classified as a war but rather a task force, but tell that to those who fought and those who lost their lives or were injured. The UK may maintain that it is their prerogative where they station individual members of the armed services but it does seem seem ill timed to say the least that Prince William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, has just arrived in the Falklands for a 6-week deployment. The Prince has been deployed as a routine part of his work as an RAF search and rescue pilot. Argentina said, almost as soon as his planned Falkland's deployment was announced, that it was a provocative act. Today, February 2, 2012, the MoD, ministry of defence said, "The Ministry of Defence can confirm Flight Lieutenant Wales, as part of a four-man search and rescue (SAR) crew, has arrived in the Falkland Islands on a routine operational deployment and will shortly take up SAR duties post a period of briefings and a familiarisation flight."The MoD also claim that the fact that HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, is heading to the region is also simply coincidental. They maintain that this is also merely routine. Tensions in the region have been high as the anniversary of the Falkland's war approaches. The conflict in 1982 only lasted 74 days but in that time 649 Argentine troops and 255 British troops lost their lives. Many more suffered live changing injuries. The Falklands island has a small population of less than 3,000. The islands lie close to Argentina but Great Britain maintains it has sovereign rights over the islands. The UK has said that as long as the people of the Falklands want to remain British we will do what it takes to make sure the status quo is maintained. The cost in money and personnel seems a huge price to pay for such a small population. However could we simply abandon the Falkland islanders? A hornet's nest seems about to spill out again. In the last day Argentina has been accused of plotting against the Falkland Islanders. Authorities in the UK seem sure that Argentina is plotting an economic blockade of the islands and a cessation of flights. With this in mind you have to wonder if Prince William's deployment in the area is as innocent as the MoD maintains. It seems more like both sides are flexing their muscles, testing the water and playing a war of nerves.
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