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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, APRIL 9, 1982
PAGE 7
am now attending Bible studies and services and am just a little
overawed to think that God is calling me, a humble muffler man,
and to think that I will someday soon be baptized and receive
God's Holy Spirit--wow!
ON THE WORLD SCENE
D.K. (Torrance, CA)
--Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
THE FALKLAND ISLANDS FRACAS--WHAT'S AT STAKE?
On Friday April 2, an
Argentine invasion force, manned with at least 1,400 marines overran the
British colony of the Falkland Islands, lying 400 miles off Argentina's
southeast coast--and 8,000 miles south of England.
There was little the
contingent of 80 British marine defenders could do, though they put up a
valiant 3 1/2 hour-long defense.
There was also little that the 1,800 people in the Falklands, a thousand of
them in the tiny capital of Port Stanley, could do except obey the orders of
their new masters, who almost immediately put new rules into effect in
cluding a switch from left to right-hand operation on the 20 miles of paved
roads in the city. The "kelpers" as they call themselves were also informed
that henceforth the official language of Las Islas Malvinas--the Argen
tinian name for the contested islands (two�in islands plus 200 smaller
uninhabited ones)--was to be Spanish. Citizens caught disrespecting the
new "national symbols" (the Argentian flag, primarily) were informed they
could get 60 days in jail. So much for the human rights the Argentines said
they would respect.
As we go to press, the issue is far from resolved. Meanwhile a formidable
British naval task force, spearheaded by two aircraft carriers, is heading
south to the Falklands--a two-week trip.
Why Argentina Attacked Now
Earlier this year, off-and-on 15-year-long negotiations had broken down
again between the U.K. and Argentina over the future of the islands, mainly
because the latter's demand for severeignty now over the islands left
little to negotiate about. Britain's position all along has been that the
two countries should not negotiate over the heads of the islanders them
selves, 97% of whom are English-speaking British subjects who have repeat
edly expressed their wishes to remain loyal subjects of the crown. In this
sense the dispute is very similar to the fracas over Gibraltar. The 29,000
Gibraltarians don't wish "the Rock" to become a part of Spain.
For Argentines, the Malvinas issue is a highly emotional issue. From prac
tically the first day they study geography, Argentine school children are
told that the islands belong to their country, that the British presence
there since 1833 is illegal. The Argentines had never successfully colon
ized the islands, but assert
they have
inherited,
since
their independence
in 1816, earlier Spanish claims to the islands.
For Argentine politicians the disputed islands have served as a patriotic
"safety valve." They have periodically raised the Malvinas question when
ever they felt a need to divert public attention from deteriorating do
mestic problems. In this sense, one could almost see the invasion coming
(in fact, some experts say that the British were informed by intelligence