Mantis Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Yes, the 19th century has been and gone and it is indeed time to accept that fact. Supporters of Argentina's claims need to realise this more than anyone. They still think it's a case of Britain acting like a colonial power when in fact it is the Argentinians who are acting in this way by completely disregarding the views of the inhabitants of the island they're trying to colonise. Why can't the UK come to a solution with Argentina like it did with the Chinese over Hong Kong? A sharing of sovereignty and economic rights pertaining to the islands allows the Falklanders maintain their Britishness whilst alleviating Argentina concerns that the UK is only in it for the money. The Falklands are completely different to Hong Kong. Hong Kong used to be Chinese before we got it whereas the Falklands has changed hands several times between Britain, France, Spain and Argentina. The French probably have a more legitimate claim on the Falklands than the Argentinians do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) Why are the people running a country in South American mainly of Spanish descent? Curiously the largest proportion of the Argentina population are of Italian descent, with most being eligible for an Italian passport. I have never quite worked out why! Hardly anybody lived in Argentina until the late 1800s, the Spanish weren't really that interested in it because they didn't think any gold was there so it was just a rather large, sparsely populated country. That era was a bit of a boom for the British, the Victorians were kicking ass (figuratively speaking) but it wasn't so great on the continent. I think a lot of people could see that world war one was coming so they just decided to emigrate to the new world. Lots of Italians went to North America, especially New York but South America must have been just as attractive at the time, the language was less of a problem because Spanish and Italian are mutually intelligible to a large extent and I think they say these days that Argentine Spanish is like Spanish spoken with an Italian accent. But yes, there are a lot of Italians in Argentina. Just look at the surnames of their footballers for example. Messi. Maradonna. Batistuta. Zanetti. Zabaleta. The Falklands are completely different to Hong Kong. Hong Kong used to be Chinese before we got it whereas the Falklands has changed hands several times between Britain, France, Spain and Argentina. The French probably have a more legitimate claim on the Falklands than the Argentinians do. Have the Falklands ever been part of Argentina? We know the islands were uninhabited until the Dutch found them in the 1600s and ever since then they have been home to European settlers. The best Argentine claims seem to revolve around the fact that some natives might have found them before the Dutch did but as they decided not to stay there, put them on a map or even tell anybody about them then they probably didn't. Edited March 21, 2013 by The_Rev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunther Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 The Shetland islands are a couple of hundred miles off the British coast, if a foreign power from the other side of the equator occupied them and then started laying claim to North Sea oil and gas reserves what would Britain do? Just stand there and take it? I think not. If they invaded now I expect we'd be a bit pissed off. Likewise I certainly wouldn't support us invading the Faeroes now, or, for example, Mauritius. If however the Shetlands had been occupied by Argentines for generations, indeed, since before the UK was established, then it'd be just the way it is and nothing to moan about. Like the Faroes being Danish, for instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Why are the people running a country in South American mainly of Spanish descent? Curiously the largest proportion of the Argentina population are of Italian descent, with most being eligible for an Italian passport. I have never quite worked out why! Hardly anybody lived in Argentina until the late 1800s, the Spanish weren't really that interested in it because they didn't think any gold was there so it was just a rather large, sparsely populated country. That era was a bit of a boom for the British, the Victorians were kicking ass (figuratively speaking) but it wasn't so great on the continent. I think a lot of people could see that world war one was coming so they just decided to emigrate to the new world. Lots of Italians went to North America, especially New York but South America must have been just as attractive at the time, the language was less of a problem because Spanish and Italian are mutually intelligible to a large extent and I think they say these days that Argentine Spanish is like Spanish spoken with an Italian accent. But yes, there are a lot of Italians in Argentina. Just look at the surnames of their footballers for example. Messi. Maradonna. Batistuta. Zanetti. Zabaleta. >The Falklands are completely different to Hong Kong. Hong Kong used to be Chinese before we got it whereas the Falklands has changed hands several times between Britain, France, Spain and Argentina. The French probably have a more legitimate claim on the Falklands than the Argentinians do. Have the Falklands ever been part of Argentina? We know the islands were uninhabited until the Dutch found them in the 1600s and ever since then they have been home to European settlers. The best Argentine claims seem to revolve around the fact that some natives might have found them before the Dutch did but as they decided not to stay there, put them on a map or even tell anybody about them then they probably didn't. Only very briefly a couple of times I think (one of those being the occupation in 1982). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 The 30 year papers released yesterday were interesting .... Showed a very divided governemnt and not a hint of oil So presumably this oil myth can be laid to rest for good now .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 On 15/03/2013 at 09:18, Awol said: The Falklands are also 250 miles offshore from South America and beyond the EEZ waters of Argentina - the internationally recognised 200 naultical mile limit when it comes to claiming anything. They can no more claim sovereignty on the basis of proximity than the Falklands can claim ownership of Argentina. seems the UN have decided to **** things up royally today with a 350 mile sovereignty claim being upheld ... Cameron's farewell could well be a little conflict with the Argies rather than the EU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 awwww... poor little U.K (tm) all cut up about losing your paper empire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tonyh29 Posted March 29, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted March 29, 2016 18 minutes ago, villakram said: awwww... poor little U.K (tm) all cut up about losing your paper empire. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 1 hour ago, tonyh29 said: Well the Americans are having a good go at putting an empire together too... same ol' problems keep appearing. It either rhymes or repeats it seems. I do love how patriotic some Brits get about the Falklands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 I find the British claim to the islands to be as nonsensical at their claim to anything really, but the Falkanders had a vote and determined to remain British and that's all that matters in the end (oh, and the oil...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 53 minutes ago, CarewsEyebrowDesigner said: I find the British claim to the islands to be as nonsensical at their claim to anything really, but the Falkanders had a vote and determined to remain British and that's all that matters in the end (oh, and the oil...) Same as the Crimeans... oh, wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 5 hours ago, tonyh29 said: seems the UN have decided to **** things up royally today with a 350 mile sovereignty claim being upheld ... Cameron's farewell could well be a little conflict with the Argies rather than the EU I'm not sure a tinpot UN commission can unilaterally rewrite established international law (I am really, they can't) but Argentina isn't going to war with anyone. They have no functioning navy or air force, which is quite a practical challenge to invading someone else's territory when it is more than several hundred sea miles away. That said I'm all in favour of sending a destroyer down to Buenos Aries and firing David Cameron at them out of a cannon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 On March 21, 2013 at 09:46, The_Rev said: Zabaleta. I'm going to hazard a guess that this is actually a Spanish surname... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts