The British government continues to refuse to negotiate sovereignty of the islands, as British governments have continuously, citing the democratic rights of the 3,000 British citizens who currently inhabit them. Of course, the government’s determination to hold onto the Falklands would have nothing to do with the small matter of oil exploration, just begun in waters adjacent and catalyst for the latest instalment of the ongoing dispute.
It is entirely understandable that Argentina should find British oil companies drilling for oil so close to the shores of disputed territory lying off its own coast an unacceptable act of provocation, especially since Argentina maintains that Britain has continued to ignore attempts to renew dialogue on the sovereignty of the islands since the war in 1982.
As for the democratic right of the islanders to remain under British control, the idea that 3,000 people living on an island almost 8,000 miles away should hold a veto over British foreign policy in the way they have is simply ludicrous.
If the sovereignty of Hong Kong can be returned to China, where it belongs, then sovereignty of a tiny group of islands 8,000 miles from these shores and occupied by just a few thousand people can be returned to Argentina.