
The following column by Alicia Castro (*) was published 02 April by the Independent - On 24 March, the day that a debate was held in Parliament over the increase in defense expenditure for the Malvinas Islands, Argentina was commemorating the anniversary of the 1976 military coup.

Argentina is ‘malvinazing’ (Malvinas) its history, but not through chauvinist patriotism but mature nationalism that seeks international law and peace to recover sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, said president Cristina Fernandez during the 33rd anniversary of the beginning of the South Atlantic conflict on 2 April 1982.

Falklands’ explorer Borders and Southern Petroleum PLC said this week its pre-tax loss widened in 2014 as costs increased, and admitted it has struggled to find a partner for the Darwin discovery to the south of the Falkland Islands, against a backdrop of reduced investment by companies caused by the fall in oil prices.

Commodore Darren Bone MA has been appointed as the next Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands (CBFSAI), with headquarters in the Falkland Islands, and in April will replace Air Commodore Russ LaForte who has held the post since August 2013.

Argentina dispatched on Monday complaint letters to several international and regional organizations accusing the United Kingdom of further militarizing the Falklands/Malvinas, with an increased budget, alleging Argentina represents a 'live threat' to the Islanders in the British Overseas Territory and thus ignoring tens of resolutions calling for dialogue between the two sides on the Falklands issue.

The Falkland Islands program to clear mines planted by the invading Argentine forces in 1982, is scheduled to take a break at the end of April, following a very successful task all along summer according to Guy Marot, Program Manager for the Falkland Islands Demining Program Office, as reported in the FIG's edition of February.

A recent piece from the Financial Times points to the fact that despite the remoteness of the Falkland Islands, the fall of international oil prices and the ongoing conflict with Argentina, this has not impeded small oil and gas companies from going ahead with exploration, and hopefully before 2020 production, in the Islands waters.

The Argentine government and media agree that the country does not have the military capacity to attack the Falkland Islands as feared by Britain. A report in daily La Nacion points out the Argentine armed forces lack landing crafts, troop transport vessels and even the Mirage fighter planes are banned from flying on cloudy days because of repeated problems with their instruments.

Argentina 'never had in consideration' the possibility of purchasing fighter aircraft from Russia, such as the Sukhoi Su-24, to replace the aging French Mirages to be decommissioned by the end of the year, said Defense minister Agustín Rossi.

The United Kingdom is the main import trading partner of the Falkland Islands with 87% of all imported goods coming from the UK in 2012 (Customs and Immigration 2013) with the rest imported mostly from Chile and Uruguay, according to the latest report on the Falklands' State of the Economy.