MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
US weighs withdrawing diplomatic support for UK over Falklands
An internal Pentagon email is considering the withdrawal of US diplomatic support for the United Kingdom in its dispute with Argentina over the Falklands as part of a package of retaliatory measures targeting NATO allies that did not back US military operations in the war with Iran, which began on February 28 of this year. The revelation was published on Friday by Reuters, based on a leaked memorandum and confirmed by a US official speaking on condition of anonymity. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesAlong came 1970. The people of the Falklands have elected to remain ' ‘Associated with the UK’ in accordance with UNGA 2625 OF 1970. A legal right.
Apr 24th, 2026 - 05:56 pm - Link - Report abuse +3All the world support Argentina to recover the islands. :) include some Commonwealth countries.
Apr 24th, 2026 - 06:31 pm - Link - Report abuse -5If this is all Argentina has, it should renounce its claim to the Falklands - A Critical Analysis of Argentina at the UN C24 Decolonisation Committee:- https://www.academia.edu/130114630/A_Critical_Analysis_of_Argentina_at_the_UN_C24_Decolonisation_Committee
Apr 24th, 2026 - 06:43 pm - Link - Report abuse +3NitJ
Apr 24th, 2026 - 11:20 pm - Link - Report abuse +4‘Recover’, is the wrong word in English, you mean annex.
You cannot ‘recover’ something that has never legitimately been Argentinian.
The major issue here, is the erosion of the rules-based world order, under the aegis of international bodies, such as the U.N, ICJ etc. Military strength and aggression, are becoming the new norm, in conduct of foreign affairs. Trump's casual indifference to NATO allies, due to their refusal to entertain his illegal war and his consideration of further punitive retaliation, has emboldened Milei and Argentina.
Apr 25th, 2026 - 07:09 am - Link - Report abuse +4However, it is important to realise, that the preservation of the Falklands as is, is a very emotive red-line in the UK. We went to war on that principle, and would certainly do it again.
British sovereignty over the Falklands is an absurd imperial hangover that must end.
Apr 26th, 2026 - 12:19 am - Link - Report abuse -6Simon Jenkins
It is Argentina that has an ‘imperial hangover’ in this.
Apr 26th, 2026 - 12:51 am - Link - Report abuse +2I mean, ‘implanted population’, coming from an Argentinian is laughable, ask the Mapuche.
You ran out of S. America to conquer from the Indians, tried to annex British territory in the S. Atlantic, twice, came a cropper both times, and haven’t stopped whinging about it since.
Grow up and admit the truth, Argentina is the ‘new kid on the block’ down there, not the British, whose history, presence and claims in the region are very old, unlike Argentina and its newly arrived immigrant population.
What is absurd is Argentina trying to claim islands that have never been Argentinian, what is absurd is all the Italians and Spanish living on stolen land, what is absurd is Argentina lies about the Falklands history,
Apr 26th, 2026 - 12:52 am - Link - Report abuse +3I am always reminded about how Argentina “gained” claim to Patagonia, previously part of Chile, during the Pacific War, when Chile was mobbed by Bolivia and Ecuador... It all depends on your viewpoint. ;)
Apr 26th, 2026 - 02:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0Way back in 1829, the Duke of Wellington noted: “I have perused the papers respecting the Falkland Islands. It is not clear to me that we have ever possessed the sovereignty of the Islands.”
Apr 26th, 2026 - 02:33 am - Link - Report abuse -4way back in the 1940s When Peron was asked why are you lying about the Falklands. he said it makes a good story.
Apr 26th, 2026 - 09:28 am - Link - Report abuse +3“... It is not clear to me that we have ever possessed the sovereignty of the Islands.”
Apr 26th, 2026 - 01:41 pm - Link - Report abuse +4Unfortunately for you the reverse is true, time has been entirely on the UK's side. It has cemented her claim of sovereignty while Argentina has irretrievably lost any entitlement to a legal claim.
”First in time, first in right”.
Primus in tempore potior (est) in iure. prē´mūs ēntām´pōrā pō´tēōr(āst) ēn yū´rā. prī´mus in tem´pōrē pō´šɜr (est) in jɜ´rē.
“The first in time (is) the more powerful in right.” A maxim meaning that the first to acquire possession of property may claim a superior right to the property relative to others who acquire possession later in time....“
https ://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780197583104.001.0001/acref-9780197583104-e-1713
Secondly, Argentina was barred from any claim what so ever.
The UK can rely on the Peace of Utrecht, which explicitly bars any Argentine claim of succession.
”...it is hereby further agreed and concluded, that neither the Catholic King, nor any of his heirs and successors whatsoever, shall sell, yield, pawn, transfer, or by any means, or under any name, alienate from them and the crown of Spain, to the French, or to any other nations whatever, any lands, dominions, or territories, or any part thereof, belonging to Spain in America.“
”An attempt sponsored by Spain and Argentina to qualify the right to self-determination in cases where there was a territorial dispute was rejected by the UN General Assembly, which re-iterated the right to self-determination was a universal right”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination#Self-determination_versus_territorial_integrity
In one move Trump has shown clearly what many have known for a long time, there is no such thing as international law, there is no such thing as International justice. Deals are struck on political necessity rather than “what is right”. The fake UN and fake ICJ have voted and ruled on political grounds for generation and are pointless.
Apr 26th, 2026 - 09:32 pm - Link - Report abuse +2The Falkland Islands are not safe in the hands of the UN/iCJ and Britain must defend them.
“ People sometimes ask me why Argentinians make such an endless fuss about the islands they call Las Malvinas. The answer is simple. The Falklands belong to Argentina. They just happen to have been seized, occupied, populated and defended by Britain. Because Argentina's claim is perfectly valid, its dispute with Britain will never go away”
Apr 26th, 2026 - 10:56 pm - Link - Report abuse -5Richard Gott
Except, they are not Argentinian and never legitimately have been.
Apr 27th, 2026 - 12:02 am - Link - Report abuse +2The evidence does not support the Argentinian version of events, it’s bullshit.
Argentina has no valid claim to the Falklands and never had.
The argument has not gone away for Argentina, true, but that is Argentina’s problem, as far as the British are concerned it’s a dead issue.
Meanwhile the world turns and the Malvinas continue to develop apace, irrespective of Argentina, who are an onlooker to the S. Atlantic.
And that must hurt! Being irreverent.
Wrong, the islands do not belong to Argentina, and they never have. they where British before you even existed as a country, your claim is false and a pack of lies, it is you who tried to seize them and occupy them, you can keep your false claim open till the year 3026, its irrelevant. most Argentines know this and get on with their lives, the day will come when the Falklands are a full independent sovereign nation, and their is nothing more to be said,
Apr 27th, 2026 - 12:04 am - Link - Report abuse +2“The Falklands belong to Argentina”
Apr 27th, 2026 - 12:16 am - Link - Report abuse +2Richard Gott is a British journalist and historian who worked for The Guardian and met Che Guevara in Cuba. He resigned from The Guardian in 1994 after being accused of being a Soviet “agent of influence” by a KGB defector.
https ://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Richard_Gott
No they don't, as that was, and is a historical impossibility.
The UK can rely on the Peace of Utrecht, which explicitly bars any Argentine claim of succession.
“...it is hereby further agreed and concluded, that neither the Catholic King, nor any of his heirs and successors whatsoever, shall sell, yield, pawn, transfer, or by any means, or under any name, alienate from them and the crown of Spain, to the French, or to any other nations whatever, any lands, dominions, or territories, or any part thereof, belonging to Spain in America.”
“It indirectly influenced the sovereignty disputes over territories like the Falkland Islands”
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=The+Peace+of+Utrecht+was+a+series+of+treaties+signed+between+1713+and+1715+that+ended+the+War+of+the+Spanish+Succession%2C+establishing+a+balance+of+power+in+Europe.+It+indirectly+influenced+the+sovereignty+disputes+over+territories+like+the+Falkland+Islands%2C+as+it+involved+agreements+between+major+powers%2C+including+Spain+and+Great+Britain%2C+which+later+impacted+colonial+claims.&t=chromentp&ia=web
They never belonged to Spain either.
Apr 27th, 2026 - 12:19 am - Link - Report abuse +2Now that quoting out of context seems to be fashionable,, Marcos Alejandro has just written:
Apr 27th, 2026 - 12:51 am - Link - Report abuse +1“Way back in 1829, the Duke of Wellington noted: “I have perused the papers respecting the Falkland Islands. It is clear to me that we have possessed the sovereignty of the Islands.””
“British sovereignty over the Falklands is an absurd imperial hangover that must end“
Apr 27th, 2026 - 01:57 am - Link - Report abuse -4Simon Jenkins
“Now that quoting out of context seems to be fashionable”
Apr 27th, 2026 - 02:18 am - Link - Report abuse +2You are absolutely correct.
”That passage is a paraphrase of the Duke of Wellington's statement asserting British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. The exact historical source is Wellington's December 1831 dispatch (or correspondence) regarding the Islands, where he affirmed that Britain possessed sovereignty.”
https://duck.ai/chat?t=chromentp
Simon Jenkins is a nobody and irrelevant, the Falklands are a self governing territory, they can be independent any time they choose, Argentina is the result of an imperial hangover. stealing land from the natives, you are talking utter rubbish, that is all the Malvinas fanatics ever do, what a stupid comment.
Apr 27th, 2026 - 07:51 am - Link - Report abuse +2“British sovereignty over the Falklands is an absurd imperial hangover that must end”
Apr 27th, 2026 - 12:11 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Simon Jenkins
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist, author and BBC broadcaster.
Opinions are like buts, every one has got one. Just some stink more than others.
The jurist Rosalyn Higgins President of ICJ arrived at a similar conclusion when she pointed out:
“No tribunal could tell her [Argentina] that she has to accept British title because she has acquiesced to it But what the protests do not do is to defeat the British title, which was built up in other ways through Argentinas acquiescence.” 1
1. Rosalyn Higgins, “Falklands and the Law,” Observer, 2 May 1982.
Britain needs to abandon its delusions of empire – giving up the Chagos Islands is a good start.
Apr 27th, 2026 - 05:09 pm - Link - Report abuse -4Simon Jenkins
Argentina needs to abandon its delusion of Empire an give up Southern Argentina for starters, then their dubious and laughable claim to the Falklands. then every Italian. Spaniard and German living on that stolen land should return back to Europe.
Apr 27th, 2026 - 05:31 pm - Link - Report abuse +3I feel sure, that when idiot Secretary Pedro Hegseth warned earlier this month that “you don't have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” he was referring to when the NATO countries stood with The Untrustworthy States of America in Afghanistan and many of the same countries stood with The Untrustworthy S of A, and not to eg. when The Untrustworthy S of A did not stand with the UK and France during the Suez Crisis.
Apr 27th, 2026 - 05:46 pm - Link - Report abuse +2There will come a day after iDiot J Trump.
Simon Jenkins is entiteled to his unqualified opinion. As there is no rule against making a horse's' ass of yourslf.
Apr 27th, 2026 - 07:02 pm - Link - Report abuse +1While I am satisfied with the ICJ President's view, that what Argentine “protests do not do, is to defeat the British title” case closed.
Distant colonies are a post-imperial anachronism. Britain will have to negotiate with Argentina because the world, either at the UN or at The Hague, will insist on it. The government and media can bury their heads in the sand, but that will not make the Falklands dispute go away or atone for the dead of the silliest of wars a quarter century ago.
Apr 28th, 2026 - 02:45 am - Link - Report abuse -2Simon Jenkins
100% wrong , you and Jenkins live in a dream world, the UN and Hague can not and will not do that. they are not remotely interested in your silly false claim. they are sick to death of the moaning and crying. their is nothing to negotiate. the Falklands will in time become a full independent sovereign nation. the UN have said all people have the right to self determination, the islanders choose their own path. and you posting silly little statements about what a nobody journalist has said is ridiculous and a fantasy.
Apr 28th, 2026 - 08:31 am - Link - Report abuse +1“Britain will have to negotiate with Argentina because the world, either at the UN or at The Hague, will insist on it.”
Apr 28th, 2026 - 11:10 am - Link - Report abuse +1No they won't since they have already conformed with all required obligations.
”Decolonization (American English) or Decolonisation (British English) is the undoing of colonialism ... The fundamental right to self-determination is identified by the United Nations as core to decolonization, allowing not only independence, but also other ways of decolonization. The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has stated that in the process of decolonization there is no alternative to the colonizer but to allow a process of self-determination.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonization
Decolonization Focus: The UN formally treats this as a decolonization issue rather than a matter of self-determination, recognizing that the situation fits within the framework of colonial situations.
Apr 28th, 2026 - 01:32 pm - Link - Report abuse -2Call for Dialogue: The General Assembly and its committees regularly pass resolutions calling on the UK and Argentina to resume negotiations over the islands.
No it does not at all. when a land is decolonised then that land is given to the people who live there and they become an independent nation. the Falklands are half way their as a BOT not a colony. the next step is independence. it is not transferred to a foreign power,
Apr 28th, 2026 - 01:52 pm - Link - Report abuse +2“to resume negotiations over the islands”
Apr 28th, 2026 - 11:38 pm - Link - Report abuse +1“the General Assembly declared in 1970 that the modern prohibition against the acquisition of territory by conquest should not be construed as affecting titles to territory created ‘prior to the Charter regime and valid under international law’.
Akehurst's Modern Introduction To International Law by Peter Malanczuk
”There is no obligation in general international law to settle disputes”.
Principles of Public International Law, third edition, 1979 by Ian Brownlie
Negotiations, dialog, yes, but no mention of negotiating sovereignty, as the UN charter and decolonisation declaration UNGA resolution 1514, both state that all the non self-governing territories have the right to self-determination.
Apr 30th, 2026 - 02:57 pm - Link - Report abuse +1There can be ‘dialog’ with Argentina, on matters of mutual interest only.
Eventually Argentina will have to accept the inhabitants right to decide for themselves, your President is halfway there already.
Argentina is a bystander in the S. Atlantic, and ever more shall be so.
‘the world, either at the UN or at The Hague, will insist on it’.
Sorry, what planet are you living on??? Err, like they stopped Gaza??? Or Ukraine??? Or anywhere else???
Anyway, both those organisations recognise the unalienable right of people to self-determination and will support ‘negotiations’ and a ‘peaceful solution’ but will not recognise Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the inhabitants right to self-determination.
The countries that profess support for Argentina’s ‘sovereignty claim’, rather than simply a ‘negotiated solution’, are few and mostly do so either for political reasons of their own, like the Chinese who want support for their annexing Taiwan, or for a quiet life like Chile and Uruguay.
You’re pretty much on your own, is the reality.
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