Tension en Las Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands

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Aqui una nota sobre las nuevas tensiones entre el gobierno argentino y el britanico acerca de la exploracion de yacimientos pretoliferos en las costaS de la isla.

Argentinian blockade of the falklands

Argentina to blockade Falkland waters in dispute over oil rights

Argentina has declared that it is taking control over all shipping between its coast and the Falklands, in effect awarding itself the power to blockade the disputed islands.

According to a decree issued by President Kirchner last night, all ships sailing through the waters claimed by Argentina must hold a permit. The measure seems likely to deepen a row over conflicting claims to oil beds lying inside the Falkland Islands’ territorial waters.

Argentina still claims sovereignty over the islands it calls “Las Malvinas” nearly three decades after the end of the Falklands conflict in which more than 1,000 people died. Tensions over the islands remained buried until the discovery of potentially rich energy reserves in the Falklands’ seabed. Argentina protested to Britain this month over plans to begin offshore drilling near the islands.

Yesterday’s decree amounts to an Argentine move to control all traffic from South America towards the islands, including an oil rig due to arrive today and start drilling next year.
Times Archive, 1982: Fleet assembles for Falklands action

The Government is assembling a naval task force in response to Argentina's seizure of the Falkland Islands

* 200-mile war zone around Falklands

* A day of tension and elation

* Ceasefire agreed

Any boat that wants to travel between ports on the Argentine mainland to the Islas Malvinas, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. . . must first ask for permission from the Argentine Government,” Aníbal Fernández, the Cabinet chief, said.

He added that the decree would force all ships bound for the islands or travelling through waters claimed by Argentina to obtain the new permit.

Argentina is trying to prevent British companies exploiting what experts say could be substantial oil reserves. Buenos Aires is enraged by Britain’s refusal to stop explorations in the face of its long-standing sovereignty claim. Last week it detained a ship, the Thor Leader, which it said had been illegally transporting pipes to the Falklands.

The impending arrival of the Ocean Guardian rig has increased tensions, amid reports from waiting crew members on the islands that it had been shadowed by Argentine jets during the final stage of its journey from the Scottish Highlands.

Last week Argentina vowed to take its complaint against Britain to the United Nations. Jorge Taiana, the Foreign Minister, warned that his Government would take “all necessary steps” to defend its claim on the islands, 300 miles from the coastline.

Geological studies estimate that up to 60 billion barrels of oil could be buried in the seabed around the Falklands, making it a reserve on the scale of the North Sea, which has so far produced 40 billion barrels. The majority of the exploration rights have been awarded to London-based Desire Petroleum, which will drill in the area for the first time since Royal Dutch Shell abandoned its bid in 1998.

The islanders have tried to shrug off the prospect of a new conflict. “There has been an economic blockade of the Falklands from Argentina for many years,” Roger Spink, the director of the Falkland Islands Company, said. “It’s something we’ve come to expect.”

Britain has more than 1,000 military personnel on land and more than 300 at sea around the Falklands, as well as four Typhoon jets, a destroyer and a patrol boat.

FUENTE: The Times

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El Primer Ministro británico, Gordon Brown, asegura que su país está preparado en las Islas Malvinas; el MoD niega, sin embargo, los rumores de que unidades navales estén en camino al Atlántico Sur:

Gordon Brown says UK is prepared in Falkland Islands

The UK has made "all the preparations that are necessary" to protect the Falkland Islands, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.

However, the Ministry of Defence has denied reports that a naval taskforce is on its way to the Falklands.


Geologists say the seabed around the Falklands has substantial oil reserves

Argentina has brought in controls on ships passing through its waters to the islands over UK plans to drill for oil.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague told the BBC the Royal Navy's presence in the region should be increased.

The Sun newspaper reported that up to three ships were to join the islands' regular patrol vessel.

BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt understands the destroyer HMS York and the oil supply tanker RFA Wave Ruler are in the area, as well as HMS Clyde, which is permanently based there.

However, the MoD said Britain already had a permanent naval presence in the South Atlantic as well as more than 1,000 military personnel on the islands.

'Very clear'

Speaking on Gateshead-based Real Radio in the North East, Mr Brown said he did not expect to send a taskforce to the area.

He said he hoped "sensible discussions" with Argentina would prevail, adding: "We have made all the preparations that are necessary to make sure the Falkland islanders are properly protected."

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said all UK oil exploration in the area was "completely in accordance with international law".

He added: "We maintain the security of the Falklands, and there are routine patrols continuing."

After Argentina's invasion of the Falklands in 1982, a UK taskforce seized back control in a short war that claimed the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British service personnel.

The BBC's Andrew Harding in Buenos Aires said it was difficult to find anyone in Argentina who believed the Falklands were in danger of being at the centre of a military conflict.

But Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister Victorio Taccetti said his country would take "adequate measures" to stop oil exploration.

Meanwhile, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Hague called for "some sort of increased naval presence - it may just be one more ship visiting more regularly" in the region.

He added: "That kind of thing would show very clearly to Argentina - with whom, again, we want friendly relations - that we will be very firm about this. It would send a signal not to misunderstand British intentions.

"One of the things that went wrong in the 1980s is that the Argentines thought we weren't really committed to the Falkland Islands. So, we mustn't make that mistake again. Our commitment should be very clear."

Buenos Aires claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, which it calls Islas Malvinas.

It has previously threatened that any company exploring for oil and gas in the waters around the territory will not be allowed to operate in Argentina.

Ocean bed

On Tuesday, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez signed a decree requiring all vessels travelling between Argentina and the islands, or those wanting to cross Argentine territorial waters en route to the Falklands, to seek prior permission.

But a drilling rig from the Scottish Highlands, the Ocean Guardian, is nearing the islands and is due to start drilling next week, the UK-based company Desire Petroleum has said.

Last week, a ship carrying drilling equipment was detained by Argentine officials.

Geologists say the ocean bed surrounding the Falklands could contain rich energy reserves.

Last year, Argentina submitted a claim to the United Nations for a vast expanse of ocean, based on research into the extent of the continental shelf, stretching to the Antarctic and including the island chains governed by Britain.

It is due to raise the issue at the UN next week.



On Thursday, an MoD spokesman said the government was "fully committed" to the Falklands, adding: "A deterrence force is maintained on the islands."

Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant said it was important not to lose sight of the fact that the UK and Argentina were "important partners".

But he added: "'We have no doubt about our sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and we're clear that the Falkland Islands government is entitled to develop a hydrocarbons industry within its waters."

The waters surrounding the disputed islands are considered by the UK to be part of the British Overseas Territories.

But Buenos Aires believes the UK is illegally occupying the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

FUENTE: BBC News

Las empresas petroleras involucradas han dicho que los planes de prospección y (eventualmente) extracción continúan normalmente y sin alteración, minimizando las reacciones del gobierno argentino.

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Fuerzas Armadas y la Foreign Office británica intensifican labores de vigilancia de la actividad naval argentina en vísperas del arribo de la plataforma Ocean Guardian:

Falkland Islands: First it was sovereignty, now it's oil

Ministry of Defence steps up surveillance of Argentinian navy as tensions escalate over black gold

By Kim Sengupta, Defence Correspondent

The British military and the Foreign Office are stepping up surveillance of Argentinian naval action following the threat from Buenos Aires to blockade the Falkland Islands.

The imminent arrival of a British company’s oil rig in the area is an immediate source of friction between the two countries, which has reignited 28 years after the war with the discovery of rich petroleum and gas reserves around the islands.

The Argentinian government has declared that it was taking control of all shipping between its coastline and the disputed islands it calls Islas Malvinas and the adjoining South Georgia, a claim promptly rejected by the UK.


The Falkland Islands may soon be the scene for a dispute over oil

Buenos Aires has demanded that the Falklands should suspend oil exploration on the seabed, which is estimated to contain 60 billion barrels of oil – indicating that it has reserves on the scale of the North Sea. Last week Argentina detained a supply ship, the Thor Leader, which was transporting pipes to the islands from an Argentinian port.

The oil rig, the Ocean Guardian, is said to have been “buzzed” by Argentinian warplanes on its way to the South Atlantic, although other reports say that it may have been coastguard aircraft which was involved. Anibal Fernandez, the chef de cabinet in Buenos Aireas, said: “Any boat that wants to travel between ports on the Argentinian mainland to the Islas Malvinas, South Georgia and the South Sandwich islands? must first ask for permission from the Argentinian government.”

Following the 1982 war, an “economic zone” of 200 nautical miles was established around the Falklands. British military and diplomatic sources have stated that any attempt by the Argentinians to stop the rig in these waters would be in breach of international law.

They also pointed out that the Ocean Guardian was registered in the US and the detention of its crew would make Buenos Aires answerable for its action to Washington as well as Britain.

The British military maintains a force of 1,076 soldiers, and a small number of warplanes on the Falklands and there is a flotilla of ships offshore including, at present, the Type 42 frigate HMS York. The aircraft are on 15 minutes’ notice to fly.

A defence source said yesterday: “The Thor Leader was stopped at an Argentinian port. The rig will be sailing in international waters and any attempt to interfere with it would be in breach of international law and we have the forces available and ready in the region to address that problem if that is what the Government wants us to do.”

Earlier this week Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, the head of the Royal Air Force, drew attention to the situation in the South Atlantic in a speech to the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) referred to “ the increasingly tense situation around the Falkland Islands” to stress the need for maintaining air superiority.

The Parliamentary all-party group on the Falklands yesterday called for Argentina’s ambassador in London to be censured over the actions of his government. The secretary of the group, the Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, said: “Any attempt by Argentina to claim any sort of rights of sovereignty over the region is something we should take very seriously. I don’t think we should appease Buenos Aires – we found out last time what happens when we do that.”

Another member of the group, his fellow Tory MP Sir Nicholas Winterton, said: “They are trying to impede the economic progress of the Falkland Islands, because of course the encouragement of hydrocarbon exploration in the area is am important part of achieving a sustainable future for the islands.”

It is widely accepted the that Argentinian military does not have the capabilities to carry out another invasion of the islands, which are, in any case, far better defended now than they were three decades ago.

However, harassment of supply ships and the refusal to let them use Argentinian ports for supplies would significantly add to the cost for oil companies and, some analysts believe, this could be a tool to force the UK and the Falkland Islands to come to a deal with Buenos Aires.

There is also apprehension among some in Argentina that the situation may lead to the rejuvenation of the extreme right-wing in the country, which had been dormant since the fall of the military dictatorship.

Frederico Thomsen, a political analyst in Buenos Aires, said: “For centuries the Falklands were about some sheep, penguins and fish – and even so, we had a war. Should someone find ‘black gold’, things will get uncomfortable and nationalists will be stirred.”

Fuente: The Independent

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21 / Feb / 2010 4:09 pm

Advierte que Argentina “no estará sola” si hay un conflicto militar por las Islas Malvinas

Foto: Prensa Presidencial / Juan Carlos Solórzano
El presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez advirtió que Argentina “no estará sola” en un hipotético conflicto armado con Gran Bretaña por la soberanía de las Islas Malvinas, y exhortó a la reina Isabel II de Inglaterra a entregar el control del archipiélago a Buenos Aires.

“Mira tú Inglaterra, ¿hasta cuándo vas a estar tú en las Malvinas? Reina de Inglaterra, a ti te hablo, reina de Inglaterra ya se acabaron los imperios, ¿no te has dado cuenta reina de Inglaterra? Devuélvele las Malvinas al pueblo argentino”, lanzó este domingo Chávez en su programa de radio y televisión.

“Los ingleses siguen amenazando a Argentina. Las cosas han cambiado señora reina, ya no estamos en 1982, en caso de agresión contra Argentina tenga la seguridad que no estará sola como se quedó entonces la patria argentina, que es patria nuestra”, advirtió.

La tensión diplomática entre los dos países, que en 1982 se enfrentaron militarmente por la posesión del archipiélago en el Atlántico sur, recrudeció en los últimos días con la llegada de una plataforma petrolera a las Malvinas para iniciar una exploración en la zona en disputa.

Se tiene previsto que la presidenta de Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, pida al Grupo de Río, reunido en México, que condene la operación.

“Ojalá que todos los países de este continente de América Latina apoyemos a la Argentina“, expresó el mandatario.

Chávez, que cuestionó que “los ingleses hablan de democracia y aún tienen reina”, insistió que el dominio de Gran Bretaña sobre el archipiélago es “antihistórico e irracional”.

La plataforma Ocean Guardian, de la empresa Desire Petroleum, está desde el viernes en la capital de las Malvinas, y se apresta a iniciar la semana entrante la exploración en la cuenca norte del archipiélago.

La respuesta argentina fue exigir permiso para navegar en sus aguas a todos los barcos que vayan al archipiélago.

© 1994-2010 Agence France-Presse

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Jejejeje, Huguito siempre poniendo el toque humorístico al asunto

¿Qué ha pasado hasta ahora? La plataforma Ocean Guardian arribó el viernes a aguas territoriales de las Malvinas sin interferencia argentina. El crucero británico Star Princess puso proa al archipiélago luego de zarpar desde Buenos Aires (deberá soltar anclas en las islas mañana) sin interferencia argentina; espera anclar en Ushuaia el miércoles. Claramente hay algo que no está funcionando acá...