On the 6 November 1820, an American pirate named Jewett raised the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate (a predecessor of modern-day Argentina) and claimed possession of the islands.
The last time Argentina had any degree of ownership whatsoever over those isles was in January 1833!
So their entire tenure consisted of 13 years, almost two centuries ago based on the spurious claims of a violent criminal.
England's claim pre-dated that of 'Argentina' by 55 years. If anybody at all had any earlier claim - it was in fact, the French although this was debatable and - being fair to France - I am unaware of any subsequent attempts by that nation to pretend that their original 'claim' was in any way legitimate.
What does matter however, is that the population on the Falklands has been long established over many generations and it is that population who should make the decisions as to their future.
There is NO support for Argentina; there is much support for Great Britain. Well then. That is the end of the argument.
The problem remains that Cameron's slashing of budgets to the Armed Forces has left The Falklands extremely vulnerable to attack should the Argies re-emerge as land thieves. Let us not pretend that the Argies are unaware of this weakness.
Comparisons to spurious claims to Gibraltar by Spain are inevitable - but at least, these days are cordial.
