Falklands/Malvinas: In Search of Common Ground
| Author | Vicente Palermo |
| Published date | 01 April 2012 |
| Date | 01 April 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-9066.2012.00093.x |
there is to be any meaningful change in
Falklands/Malvinas policy.
Concrete proposals to initiate this
dialogue should include the following: an
Argentine proposal that the UK re-imple-
ments the ‘sovereignty umbrella’ formula
as a framework for a far-ranging policy
of cooperation; recognising the islanders
(Falklanders/malvinenses) as subjects with
rights and wishes, and not merely interests;
removing the Falklands/Malvinas issue
from the top of Argentina’s priorities with
respect to foreign policy; and making some
symbolic and legal decisions related to the
causa Malvinas. Let us examine each of
these suggestions in turn.
Re-implementing the ‘Sovereignty
Umbrella’
The so-called ‘sovereignty umbrella’ is basi-
cally an agreement by which the various
parties’ positions on the matter of sover-
eignty are protected. It stipulates that no act
or activity carried out under the agreement
shall constitute grounds for either denying
or affirming the position of either party
with respect to sovereignty. It thus clears
the path of obstacles to cooperation.
The cornerstone of the umbrella strategy
is that both Argentina and the UK acknowl-
edge the obvious: that there is a dispute
linked to sovereignty upon which the two
parties do not agree. The dispute is explic-
itly acknowledged in this formula such
that the parties’ positions are protected and
they are able to agree upon a wide range of
possibilities for cooperation, without threat
of creating precedents that could put their
interests at risk.
The indispensable complement to the
‘umbrella formula’ is a unilateral diplo-
matic decision by Argentina: it must decide
Foresight
Falklands/Malvinas:
In Search of Common Ground
In 1833, Britain occupied the Falkland
Islands, then inhabited by a small group
of Argentines. Since then, Argentina has
made countless claims to sovereignty over
the archipelago, while the UK has argued
that the will of the islanders should be
paramount. In 1982 Argentina occupied the
islands by force, sparking the so-called Falk-
lands War. Today, the islands still dominate
relations between the UK and Argentina.
While Buenos Aires considers its rights
over the islands to be beyond question,
London cites the principle of self-deter-
mination to argue that the wishes of the
islanders should be respected. In Argentina,
the ‘Malvinas question’ has a popularity
that it lacks in the UK, and is at the top of
Argentine foreign policy concerns.
In Argentina, the Falklands/Malvinas
question is far from being a simple diplo-
matic or territorial dispute. It is a political
and cultural problem that intensely affects
Argentina’s external policy and much
Argentinian thinking. For many, the
Malvinas is an authentic national cause.
This poses a serious obstacle to reforming
Falklands/Malvinas policy in more rational
and beneficial terms. However, a change in
approach to the Falklands issue is possible.
Reformulating Policy
There is an intellectual and political battle
to fight if Argentine popular opinion on
the Falklands/Malvinas question is to be
changed. This should be based on concrete
proposals about relevant aspects of the Falk-
lands/Malvinas issue. But it is crucial that,
from the beginning, a dialogue is developed
between the British, the Falklanders and
the Argentines. This dialogue is crucial if
Thirty years after the conflict, the Falkland Islands still dominate Anglo-Argentine relations. Here Argentinean
academic Vicente Palermo sets out a radical proposal for transforming a dispute that remains as divisive and
polarising as ever.
not to demand that the UK should engage
in discussions about sovereignty as a condi-
tion for negotiations or agreements in any
other field.
Recognising the Islanders as Subjects
The catchphrase of malvinera orthodoxy
has been unchanging in this sense: ‘the
islanders have interests, but not wishes’.
To take into account the wishes of the
islanders is an eminently political move
that sidesteps the unproductive discussion
about self-determination. It recognises that
the islanders are a part of all negotiations,
and that Argentina does not expect to
secure an eventual exercise of sovereignty
against the will of the Falklander/malvin-
ense community. It is, in short, about no
longer harassing the islanders, without
renouncing the legal claim, but granting
them both political and symbolic assur-
ances that their wishes in the matter will
be respected.
Removing the Falklands from its
Dening Position in Argentinian
Foreign Policy
In practice, this means that Argentine
diplomacy and official policy would cease
subordinating a wide range of foreign
policy issues to the demands of malvinera
orthodoxy.
This does not necessarily mean that the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs should stop
reiterating the grounds for Argentina’s
rights to the archipelago (on the basis of
Resolution 2065 of the General Assembly);
but the intensity and the frequency with
which this is done should begin to decrease.
Argentina’s diplomatic policy on the matter
should indicate that it is important that the
islanders are free to decide what they want.
18 Political Insight
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