The Sovereignty Dispute over the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
The Sovereignty Dispute over the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
Lowell Gustafson
Department of
Political Science
Villanova University
Villanova, PA 19085
| Who has the Legal Title, the Rightful Claim to the Islands? |
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| Political Geography | ||||||
| 51o42’S, 57o51’W; | ||||||
| 12,173 km2, 4,700 sq miles; | ||||||
| 300 miles (480)km east of Argentina in South Atlantic |
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| Political Nomenclature | ||||||
| Falkland Islands or Falklands, Las Islas Malvinas or Malvinas, Falklands / Malvinas, Falklands (Malvinas) |
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Discovery: Sightings and Landings |
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Indigenous Discovery and Settlement? The Yaghan people? |
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| European Sightings of the Islands |
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| Amerigo Vespucci, Estaban Gomez of Ferdinand Magellan Simon de Alcazaba, |
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| Francisco de Camargo | ||||||
| John Davis, Richard Hawkins | ||||||
| Sebald van Weerdt | ||||||
| John Strong | ||||||
| Discovery and Possession |
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| Papal Grant
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| Pope Alexander VI, 1493 | ||||||
| Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 | ||||||
| England and the Spanish Empire |
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| Search for naval base from which to penetrate Spanish Empire in South America, support the independence of Spanish American colonies |
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| French attempt to restore its empire |
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| Antoine Louis de Bougainville founds Port St. Louis in Les Malouines in January 31, 1764France pays Bougainville for the settlement, Port St. Louis ceeded to Spain in 1767 |
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| British Settlement |
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| – John Byron, January 4, 1765 founds Port Egmont, after the French settlement was founded. |
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| – Spanish forcibly evict the British settlement in 1769 |
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| – Some British, such as Lord Chatham, favor forcible response to restore British control of Port Egmont if necessary |
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| – Did Lord North think that Falklands were in fact not valuable enough to warrant conflict with Spanish, but was unable to publicly back down to Spanish for domestic political reasons? Was there a Secret Agreement between North and the Spanish that if the Spanish returned Port Egmont to the British now, Britain would leave these unimportant islands within a brief time after the dust settled? |
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| – Britain does vacate Falklands in 1774, but leaves a plaque asserting British claim to the islands. |
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| – Nootka Sound Convention of 1790 | ||||||
| Political Independence of Argentina |
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| 1810 establishment by Cabildo of the Primera Junta in support of Ferdinand VII |
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| Britain still interested in penetrating Spanish empire |
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| Lord Beresford’s old style military approach to colonialism |
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| Encouragement of Latin American political independence, economic neo-colonialism |
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| Spain preoccupied by independence movements on mainland, in 1811 the Spanish abandon Las Islas Malvinas |
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| Principle of Uti Possidetus vs. post-independence political fragmentation: which territories of old vice-royalties will become parts of newly independent nations? |
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| Sealers, fisherman of various nationalities informally use the Falklands |
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| – Argentina attempts to establish de facto and de jure control over Las Malvinas.Louis Vernet.– 1825 Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation between Great Britain and Argentina. – – – – – – |
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| Summary: Discovery, Settlement, Abandonments, Plaques, Fishing, and Conquest |
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| Superiority of Argentine Historical Claims before 1833 |
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Self-Determination, Decolonization, and a New Just War? |
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| The Principle of Self Determination: Who is the Self? What may it determine? |
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| – The Falkland Islanders (kelpers) who live on a well defined piece of territory should be permitted to decide their political affiliation.- Is the self an individual who makes personal choices?– Is the self an entire nation, a people who together or as represented by a democratic government may decide what territory is to be included under its sovereignty. In this case, all of Britain is the self, with Falklanders a small percentage. |
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| Decolonization and the Use of Force |
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| – To prevent future first uses of force in the drawing of boundaries, should borders previously drawn through the use of force be accepted?- Anti-colonialists argue that what the imperialists after WWII called the first use of force in opposition to established colonies will not lead to WWIII; instead anti-colonial use of force is in self-defense against aggression of previous centuries.– Colonized peoples seek to gain independence: Unification of self-determination and decolonization: justifies the (defensive) use of force of anti-colonialists. – A new just war doctrine accepts anti-colonial aggression.1960 U.N. – 1961 Indian invasion of Portuguese Goa, which had been there for – U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2065: apply 1514 to Malvinas. – African and Asian independence movements largely complete by – By 1982, many former anti-colonists who had supported Indian |
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Lowell Gustafson 