GauchoBadger...

...Argentina has the resources to be the richest land in South America and has a very able and cosmopolitan population. That it is not as prosperous as it should be is a very unfair thing. A prosperous and democratic nation tends to attract allies and those who seek its favour. Achieve that and the Falklanders might not be so suspicious of Argentina's intentions and willing to discuss friendship, at least.

At the same time, the UK Foreign Office and the US State Department need to be reminded that human beings are not disposable assets and that their opinions and aspirations must be respected.
 
GauchoBadger...

...Argentina has the resources to be the richest land in South America and has a very able and cosmopolitan population.
Nope. Natural resources, of which Argentina doesn't have as much as people claim, do not make a country rich. It's the raw resources, skills and access to markets that allow a country to create value chains what makes a country rich.
 
GauchoBadger...

...Argentina has the resources to be the richest land in South America and has a very able and cosmopolitan population. That it is not as prosperous as it should be is a very unfair thing. A prosperous and democratic nation tends to attract allies and those who seek its favour. Achieve that and the Falklanders might not be so suspicious of Argentina's intentions and willing to discuss friendship, at least.

At the same time, the UK Foreign Office and the US State Department need to be reminded that human beings are not disposable assets and that their opinions and aspirations must be respected.

This, I was under the impression that the people of the Falklands were (are) British citizens and have overwhelmingly made it clear they want to remain so. While that may not make the folks in Whitehall happy, it's reality all the same.
 
This, I was under the impression that the people of the Falklands were (are) British citizens and have overwhelmingly made it clear they want to remain so. While that may not make the folks in Whitehall happy, it's reality all the same.
This is interesting (to me anyways) reading..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Nationality_(Falkland_Islands)_Act_1983

It seems that there was a change to the citizenship status of at least some Falkland Islanders after the conflict between Argentina and the UK in 1982.
 
The British Nationality Act of 1981 would have made Falkland Islanders British Dependent Territories citizens not British citizens. This would have restricted their right to enter and stay in the UK.
However the British Nationality Act of 1981 didn't come into effect until 1st January 1983, after the Falklands war, and the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983 which was passed on 28th March retrospective conferred full British citizenship on the residents of the Falkland Islands from 1 January 1983.
 
Juanml82...

...I stand corrected. But still think Argentina has unrecognised capability for prosperity. Agriculturally, the Denmark of South America and with much industrial potential.
 
i agree. Argentina needs to throw its military junta government away (or not have it in the first place) for any purchase of the islands to be possible.

Yep. Also, being more developed wouldn't hurt either. Also, giving FI status of Argentinian Province (authonomy) would be necesarry.
 
I presume also that English should have at least co-official status in Falklands under Argentina, probably the British would want that no Argentine military is stationed there and that names ( like Flaklands, port Stanley etc. ) stay the same, left-hand driving also, restriction of Argentinian settlement there ( not really very necesarry, natural conditions there are harsh enough to have that anyway ) and maybe having British base ( or at least unrestricted acess for RN ships in Argentinean ports ). UK would probably retain a consulate there too.
 
Another thing, would the British, if they decide to sell Falklands, also sell South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands? Or they would keep them as basis for their Antarctica claim?

Or, could they swap the Falklands for Argentinian recognition of their Antarctic ( and South Georgia/South Sandwich Isl. ) claim?
 
About purchase of Falklands, maybe during WW2, when UK was cash stripped and Argentina still had money and was friendly country?
 

hipper

Banned
About purchase of Falklands, maybe during WW2, when UK was cash stripped and Argentina still had money and was friendly country?

Actually Argentina should have offered to buy the islands in 1946 when they had considerable Sterling Credit built up from the war. They preferred to buy jets instead.
 
Argentina has in the recent past attempted to bribe the Kelpers. Other than a single individual Argentina was told in no uncertain terms where they could deposit the money.

Amusingly a deprived Welsh village with a similar population size did attempt to take up the offer. Oddly the Argentinean Embassy was not interested when comedian/activist Mark Thomas and representatives of said village offered themselves as an alternative to the islands. XD
 
Gonna need three factors in play for this to work

a) Argentina and the Islanders having an exceptionally good relationship, which means none of the active measures taken to coerce the islanders IOTL, be they threatening and aggressive (i.e. the invasion, cutting off supplies, and the whole outright declaring they have no human rights) or just plain cringe inducing (just about every "seduction" tactic employed post war that wound up either annoying or creeping out the islanders)
b) Argentina being a first world nation comparable to Australia or New Zealand in terms of stability, prosperity, and HDI.
c) Argentina not being a dictatorship with a noted habit of murdering and torturing its citizens for dissent

With these factors in place it seems likely an agreement could have been reached and voted for by the Islanders in the 60s or 70s.
 
Actually Argentina should have offered to buy the islands in 1946 when they had considerable Sterling Credit built up from the war. They preferred to buy jets instead.

Agreed.

That would have to be agreed between Peron and Attlee. Do you think that Labour Government could pull it off, if the price is right?
 
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Argentina has in the recent past attempted to bribe the Kelpers. Other than a single individual Argentina was told in no uncertain terms where they could deposit the money.

Amusingly a deprived Welsh village with a similar population size did attempt to take up the offer. Oddly the Argentinean Embassy was not interested when comedian/activist Mark Thomas and representatives of said village offered themselves as an alternative to the islands. XD

I'd have accepted the bribes then told them to sod off.
 
But, I wonder, in a scenario where Argentina had bought FI during say late 40s and relations with the UK remained cordial, what could be Argentinian foreign policy orientation? What about their armed forces? Will they have a conflict with Chile?
 
But, I wonder, in a scenario where Argentina had bought FI during say late 40s and relations with the UK remained cordial, what could be Argentinian foreign policy orientation? What about their armed forces? Will they have a conflict with Chile?
Maybe, but butterflies. While political violence in the 1970s and a subsequent coup remain likely, different people will be in charge. Maybe that means war with Chile happens in the 60s. Maybe it happens by 1978. Maybe the ATL Junta doesn't want to risk it. Maybe butterflies mean Peron meets and marry a different woman and doesn't pick her as his VP if/when he returns after his exile (which probably won't be butterflied away) and that ends up butterflying away the 1976 coup.
 
Possible. A negotiation like that would be achievable, but both president of Argentina and Margret Thatcher partitioning the islands in half would be anticlimactic for both nations people, as both were bending a knee to another. Unless Argentine policy is to put all troops to secure one half of the island is the goal, it'd be hard. But the British would be going in hard to attack the entire west island being full of soldiers at every corner.

If Thatcher avoided conflict her political fate would be sealed. Unemployment hovered persistently around three million and the Royal Navy faced very deep cuts to try and balance the books. There had been the worst riots of the century and inflation had risen to 22%.

Assuming she is turfed by the Conservatives, she would be viewed as the worst Prime Minister since Walpole.
 
Re Post #36...

...A matter of historical record that in the late 1930s William Joyce (later hung as 'Lord Haw-Haw') stayed in Dalbeattie and tried to recruit people into the British Union of Fascists. The locals learnt they would get a Sam Brown belt and two black shirts. They signed up, got the shirts and belt, then mysteriously failed in any further enthusiasm for Fascism. The quondam fascists in many cases signed up with the Army in 1939 and 1940 and went killing real German and Italian fascists. The town became the site of a shadow factory making cordite and packing gunpowder. The only fascist spy - the 'Black Swan' - was shopped in 1941 before she did any damage. An attempt to bomb the town managed to blow up a few trees and make a hole in a field.

Fun, yes? Not a good idea to try to get the better of Dalbeattie. Better count your fingers and toes - and your surviving relatives.
 
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