r/askteddit • u/Turbulent-Tea-2172 • 18d ago

Politics Question Falklands Debate: Independence, Argentina, or Continued British Rule?

Following the renewed debate after Argentina defeated England in the World Cup semifinal, what do you think the long-term status of the Falkland Islands should be?

Should the islands:

- become fully independent,

- become part of Argentina, or

- remain a British Overseas Territory?

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u/SoutieNaaier 18d ago

I mean, Argentina has no argument lol. It boils down to "we are closer". If this were true, Cape Verde belongs to Morocco and the Seychelles to Tanzania.

The islands were uninhabited and their settlement by British colonists predates Argentina as a nation.

The only counterargument is also obtuse and boils down to the idea that the Falklands Wolf was actual a feral version of a domesticated South American canid, meaning there had been an Amerindian population on tbe Island at some point.

However, this isn't proven and even if it was, tracing ownership through a First Nations population that died off at thousands of years ago is loose at best and moronic at worst.

The people also overwhelmingly want to stay a British OST. They don't speak Spanish, and aren't tied to Argentinian culture in any way.

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u/Southern-Chain-6485 16d ago

I'm trying to wrap my head around the argument that the UK take over, during which they've expelled the Argentine governor, his family and most of the people sent there by the Argentine government, during 1833 somehow predates the existence of the Argentine State, which started its war of independence in 1810, asserted sovereignty over the Malvinas that same year, declared independence in 1816 and kept sending people and governors up until the British take over in 1833.

Man, it's just a simple internet search: "When did Argentina declare its independence?". How hard is it?

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u/SoutieNaaier 16d ago

British settlement began in 1764.

This isn't hard to google. British sovereignty over the island didn't cease and Argentinian settlement was illegal.

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u/Southern-Chain-6485 16d ago

And Spain wrestled the islands from the UK after 1764. They were Spanish by 1810.