The government of Argentina revealed that it had formally complained to London on Wednesday evening after the HMS Medway, the United Kingdom’s primary guard ship for the Falkland Islands, sailed near the Islands.
The government of libertarian President Javier Milei claimed that the British ship was “illegally deployed” and had sailed “through Argentine territorial seas,” an alleged violation of international law. The complaint was allegedly filed on July 12, however, leaving unclear why the Argentine Foreign Ministry waited two days to reveal that it had lodged its “formal note of protest.” The delay, however, allowed the announcement to be timed alongside Argentina’s victory against England in the FIFA World Cup on Wednesday, a narrow 2-1 victory after England maintained a lead for much of the match.
The Argentine team made the territorial dispute part of the soccer competition shortly after their victory, brandishing a large banner reading, “The Falklands Are Argentine.” FIFA, the authority that organizes the World Cup, explicitly forbids political statements during games and had banned fans from bringing in materials about the Falklands, leaving open the possibility that the Argentine team will face some punishment before playing in the final match on Sunday against Spain.
In its missive on Wednesday, the Argentine Foreign Ministry announced that it had expressed its “most energetic rejection” to the Medway navigating waters around British territory, claiming that it was “illegally deployed” and that London had not “properly notified” Buenos Aires of its movements. It further accused the British of sailing the ship “through Argentine territorial seas.”
“This unilateral action constitutes a violation of the commitments assumed by both governments in the Joint Declaration of September 25, 1991,” the statement declared. “The Argentine Government firmly rejects this British military incursion in spaces under Argentine jurisdiction, which follows a sustained policy of unilateral acts incompatible with United Nations resolutions and with the duty of both parties to abstain from agitating the situation while the sovereignty dispute remains pending a solution.”
“The Argentine Republic reaffirms, once again, its legitimate and inalienable rights of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, Southern Georgia and Southern Sandwich Islands, and the surrounding maritime space,” it concluded.
The Falkland Islands are a British territory about 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. The islands were uninhabited until the late 1600s, when British sailor John Strong landed on them. The United Kingdom has controlled the islands for the entire history of them being populated by human beings and there is no record of indigenous people on the island prior to the British arrival. When Strong landed on the island in 1690, the Argentine Republic was still nearly 130 years from being established.
Despite the British history in the islands, Argentine governments of nearly every political ideology have demanded control of them. The bitter modern sentiment towards the British in the country stems from Argentina’s catastrophic and rapid loss in the 1982 Falkland Islands War prompted by the military junta in charge of Argentina at the time invading the islands. Then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher deployed the British navy to retaliate and swiftly won the war in 74 days.
The Falklands situation rose to prominence once again this week, over 40 years after Argentina’s military defeat, when Argentine government officials raised it in the context of the World Cup. Shortly before the match, Argentine Vice President Victoria Villaruel published a statement calling the British “usurping pirates” and demanding they win for the Falkland Islands and for “Diego,” a reference to famously drug-addled communist soccer player Diego Armando Maradona.
After the match, soccer players Giovani Lo Celso y Lisandro Martínez waved a reportedly fan-made banner declaring Argentine sovereignty over the islands following Wednesday’s game. The Argentine newspaper Clarín observed in its reporting that the incident occurred “less than 24 hours after security authorities at the match,” played in Atlanta, Georgia, “informed that they would not allow the entry to the stadium of flags, shirts, or signs with references to the Falkland Islands or to the war in 1982.”
The situation is politically complicated for Milei, the nation’s president, a staunch conservative who once called Margaret Thatcher his “idol.”
“There have been great leaders in the history of humanity, Mrs. Thatcher was one of them,” Milei said in 2023 during a presidential debate, accusing presidential rival Sergio Massa of lamenting the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Milei has taken a less aggressive stance than his vice president, republishing a statement following the match reading, “The Falklands will be recovered in the diplomatic plane, with intelligence. And never in the history of Argentina have so many advances been made as in this [presidential] term.”
The president also posted a message on Twitter celebrating the win using the acronym “LRPMQLRCRMP.”
The acronym roughly translates to “the extra whore mother who extra super birthed them badly.”