A Jan. 8 article about a dispute over the Falkland Islands incorrectly said that Argentine President Nestor Kirchner in 2003 banned charter flights to the islands, known by Argentines as the Malvinas. Kirchner rejected a request to allow more charter flights from Chile to fly through Argentine airspace on their way to the islands. Currently one commercial flight per month originating in Chile stops in Rio Gallegos, Argentina, before continuing to the islands.
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Falkland Islands An Unsettled Issue 25 Years After War
Ramon De Leon, a veteran of the 1982 war over islands that Argentines call the Malvinas, stands at a monument in Buenos Aires dedicated to fallen soldiers.
(By Natacha Pisarenko -- Associated Press)
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No one believes the two countries are headed for another war. Even so, Britain maintains a defensive military presence of about 1,800 personnel on the island to protect a population that numbers only about 3,000.
Residents of the barren islands have lived for years off agriculture and fishing. English is spoken, telephone booths are red and pubs have names such as the Globe Tavern. There are regular flights to London but none to Argentina; Kirchner banned charter flights shortly after taking office.
"When you come here, it's literally as if you've arrived in a little piece of Britain," said Jenny Cockwell, editor of the Penguin News weekly newspaper in Port Stanley. Cockwell said the islanders like it that way. She guessed that if a vote were taken, "about 0.01 percent" would support negotiations that could result in Argentina gaining territorial rights.
"Why? Well, where should I begin?" she said. "For a start, Argentina can't even sort out its own affairs, let alone ours. They're so rich in natural resources, they should be one of the strongest countries in the world. But instead they have all manner of problems."
The Falklands also can boast natural resources, thanks mostly to the chilly South Atlantic waters that surround them. Since the war, squid fishing has boomed, and oil companies are hopeful that offshore drilling could prove lucrative. The islands' per capita income is higher than that of any South American nation.
The economic potential has played a big role in ratcheting up tensions. Argentina repeatedly has protested Britain's fishing and oil prospecting activities around the islands, and it sharply criticized the Falklands government when it extended local fishing permits to 25 years.
With the anniversary approaching, Argentina is hoping that the rare spotlight on the islands will bolster support for its cause.
Carol Thatcher, the daughter of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, arrived in Argentina last month to film a documentary slated to run this spring and tentatively titled "Mummy's War."
"In the South Atlantic this is still the big story, and I think 25 years on we need to refresh our memories of the high emotions that drive the human experience of the war and its aftermath," Adam Bullmore, a producer working on the documentary for October Films, said in an e-mailed statement.
But for many here, the refresher course is unnecessary. According to local news reports, Thatcher was greeted at the airport here by a small group of Argentine veterans protesting her visit.
