THE FALKLANDS DISPUTE AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84B00049R000701780018-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: April 2, 1982
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/02/14: CIA-RDP84B00049R000701780018-5
CONFIDENTIAL
2 April 1951
THE FALKLANDS DISPUTE
AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The controversy dates batik to 1833 when the British, who
originally discovered the islands, reoccupied them for use as a
seal hunting and shipping base in the South Atlantic. The
Argentines claimed that the islands, controlled by the Spanish
as part of the Argentine colony until 1810, became theirs once
independence had been secured. The new government was too weak
to oust the British and Buenos Aires lost control of the
islands.
The dispute was only a minor irritant in bilateral
relations between London and Buenos Aires until 1965--when
Argentina brought the dispute before the United Nations. The
General Assembly declared that sovereignty over the islands was
in dispute and created a negotiating framework. Talks were
largely unsuccessful and yielded only a series of agreements
during the early 1970s facilitated travel and approved
contracts for Argentine companies to provide fuel and other
necessities to the islanders.
The growing economic potential of the island area
heightened diplomatic tensions in the mid-1970s. In 1974 a
geological survey determined that the Falklands could be the
center of a vast pool of oil--perhaps nine times the size of
North Sea fields. Offshore marine resources--fish, krill (a
small shrimp) and kelp also promise substantial profits. In
1976, Argentina underscored its determination to speed up
negotiations by using a destroyer to harass a British research
ship in Falkland territorial waters; several warning shots were
fired. The incident occurred at a time of substantial domestic
strife in Argentina just prior to the ouster of Isabel Peron,
and in part appeared designed to garner support for the
President with a distracting, ultra nationalistic issue.
However, Peron was ousted shortly thereafter, British response
was restrained, and negotiations continued.
The latest round of talks began in February--still part of
the 15 years of negotiations that followed the establishment by
the UN of a framework mechanism. President Galtieri, who has
directed a generally more aggressive foreign policy since his
assumption of power in December, pressed for a permanent
negotiating commission to replace the less regularized
structure. In mid-March, when the British appeared to be
vaciliating, the Argentines publicly demanded Britain accept
the proposal or face an end to the talks and other unspecified
Argentine actions. The British refused, the talks floundered,
and the incident at South Georgia that began on March 19
escalated into confrontation and the Argentine invasion Friday.
Approved For Release 2008/02/14: CIA-RDP84B00049R000701780018-5