Fifteen years after the war, the 2,100 inhabitants of this South Atlantic outpost still view Argentina as an unrepentant aggressor. But during the past decade the Falklands have been transformed from a moribund colonial backwater into a prosperous society, thanks to the lucrative sale of commercial fishing licenses. Then there are the islands’ oil reserves, which could total 2.5 billion barrels greater than those of the North Sea. Although commercial drilling won’t begin for at least five years, The Times of London has already dubbed the Falklands “The New Kuwait.” Yet Argentina’s refusal to renounce its claim of sovereignty has kept the islanders awash in anxiety. “We have this constant threat hanging over us,” says Lisa Riddell, editor of the Penguin News in Stanley, the capital.
Nobody believes the Argentines would attempt another invasion; Britain keeps 2,000 troops on the islands as a deterrent. But President Carlos Menem regularly vows rhetorically to regain control of “Las Malvinas.” He has also proposed shared sovereignty with Britain, though Falkland Gov. Richard Ralph says sovereignty is “not up for negotiation.” Most islanders have greeted with ridicule the so-called “charm offensive” led by Argentine Foreign Minister Guido Di Tella. He has sent each islander notes and odd gifts, like pictures of his grandchildren and copies of the St. Exupery fable “The Little Prince.”
Enjoying an annual budget surplus, the local administration has built a $22 million high school, a hospital in Stanley and a road network across the nearly trackless interior. The Falklands’ tenuous link to the outside world-two 18-hour military flights to England and one commercial flight to Chile each week-will improve if big oil comes to stay. But the nation won’t move closer to its neighbor across the South Atlantic until the signs that read LAS MALVINAS BELONG TO ARGENTINA come down for good.
