Argentina Employ New Falkland's Shipping Controls
THERE are echoes of 1982 in the South
Atlantic, as Argentina has announced new controls on shipping
through its waters to the Falkland Islands in a growing dispute over
British oil drilling plans.
A permit will be needed by ships using
Argentine waters en route to the Falklands, South Georgia and the
South Sandwich Islands - all UK controlled.
The UK Foreign Office said the Falkland
Islands' waters were controlled by its authorities and would not be
affected. Argentina has protested to the UK about oil exploration
due to begin this year.
Buenos Aires claims sovereignty over the
Falkland Islands, which it calls Islas Malvinas.
It has previously threatened that any
company exploring for oil and gas in the waters around the territory
will not be allowed to operate in Argentina.
Last month, a ship carrying drilling
equipment was detained by Argentine officials. Later Desire
Petroleum PLC said it started drilling for oil about 60 miles north
of the disputed Falkland Islands, despite strong opposition from
Argentina. The country claims the south Atlantic islands as its own
and calls them Las Malvinas.
DEPTH
"The well is being drilled to an estimated
target depth of circa 11,500 feet," the company said in a statement.
"Drilling operations are expected to take approximately 30 days."
The sabre-rattling over oil is just the
latest episode in a dispute that's remained unresolved since the
Falkland's War April 2, 1982. The war lasted for 74 days and saw 255
British and 649 Argentine soldiers and sailors killed.
A BBC world affairs correspondent said
Argentine anger had been "brewing for a while, and that the sabre-rattling
over oil in the South Atlantic is just the latest episode in a
dispute that's remained unresolved since the War in 1982.
The waters surrounding the disputed islands
are considered part of the British Overseas Territories.
Full diplomatic relations were restored in
1990 and both sides have since largely agreed to disagree on the
issue of sovereignty. But anger over the issue still lingers and has
been exacerbated by the prospect that Argentina could lose out on
mineral wealth discovered offshore.
As the drilling platform made its way to the
islands, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez decreed that any
ship traveling to or from the islands must get prior permission from
her country - a requirement Britain told captains to ignore.
The Latin American nation is taking the
diplomatic offensive, lobbying countries at the Rio Group summit of
32 Latin American and Caribbean nations in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
The summit later backed Argentina's
position. Argentine officials late Monday quoted a statement from
Mexican President Felipe Calderon as saying "the heads of state
represented here reaffirm their support for the legitimate rights of
the republic of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute with Great
Britain." |
