Undaunted by Argentina

ARGENTINA ARE COMPLAINING ONCE more . The country’s president, Cristina Kirchner accuses Britain of militarising the South Atlantic after the departure of HMS Dauntless and Prince William to the Falklands.

            She now threatens to inflict her constant nagging on this issue to the members of the United Nations; who must be waiting with baited breath.

            Nevertheless she has captured the support of one aging statesman. Cuba’s Fidel Castro gave Cristina the benefit of his support in the form of one of his lengthy speeches; which apparently lasted two hours. During which he reminded us British of our impoverished defences. Here is a taste of Fidel’s rhetoric: "Somewhere is the English ship sailing to the Falklands but the English only have one little boat left," such wit reminds one of Oscar Wilde.

            "The only ones who have aircraft carriers are the Yankees. All the English can do is send over a destroyer, they can't even send an aircraft carrier," he rightly concludes.

            Well, sadly, he is correct. But considering the misery and backwardness he has brought to his people since the overthrow of Batista in 1959, he has little to boast about.

            For instance, those of his islanders who declared themselves gay, were taken off for ‘re-education’; which was something the Left in this country preferred not to know about; or, if they did, they kept silent about.

            As for the Cuban people as a whole; they were merely part of the great socialist experiment. For their sacrifices, they had the best health service in the region…which, let’s face it, was the one and only aspect of Cuba’s utopia that the Left in Europe could openly boast about.

            However, since the demise of the Soviet Union left the communist elite in Cuba to fend for themselves, the unfolding tragedy that began in 1959 has continued. The same automobiles that were there in 1959 are still gas guzzling their way around Havana. The colonial buildings in Havana, may have their aesthetic beauty, but there has been little other modern architecture to add to any kind of mix.

            So, as much as I agree with his assessment of Britain’s naval power, he has little to boast about after 85 years regarding his dictatorship of Cuba.

BUT LET US get back to Argentina and Cristina Kirchner’s persistence. She has used every opportunity to stir up anti-British sentiment on this the 30^th anniversary of her country’s defeat on the Falklands.

            Like General Galtieri before her, she is using the issue of the Falklands for a political purpose. She is soon to fight an election, and an early start must be made. As democrats we understand this, for elections are important and our politicians are prepared to go to any legal lengths to either gain or hang on to power. But never has any politician sought to drag in the United Nations as part of their election campaign.

            Cristina Fernandez Kirchner no doubt sees herself as a latter day Eva Peron made fashionable in populist culture throughout the West by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

             But to the British; on such an important anniversary as the 30^th, precautions must be taken. After all, it was the lack of such which lead to our temporary loss  30 years ago of the Falklands; and this fear and only this fear has invoked the presence of HMS Dauntless to the region.

            If Argentina had not been so hostile to our defence of the Falklands, they could now be helping their economy by agreeing terms for the exploration of oil in the seas of the South Atlantic. We have always been willing to come to some arrangement with Argentina over this vital oil resource.

            We have also said that if the people of the Falklands wish to become part of Argentina, we would not prevent this from coming about. Although we have every justification in laying claim to the Falklands; if our people living on the islands no longer wish to remain part of the United Kingdom, then we could talk about ownership with Ms Kirchner, the president of Argentina.

 

AS WE MUST  be drawn into Argentinean politics in this way by the Kirchner harridan, we may as well go through the motions. If the Argentinean president finds the UK a convenient electoral weapon in the democratic armoury of someone who wishes to cling to power, then why not oblige her.

            She is not to be taken seriously. All she wants is what all politicians want – power. To maximise the vote in Argentina, she needs to stimulate the people’s clitoris in order to electrify them over the Falklands.

            After she has managed to do this and hang on to her presidency, she will hopefully settle down to the domesticity of running the country; after which Dauntless can be replaced by a frigate once more - until that is, Cristina Fernandez Kirchner seeks yet another term as president of Argentina. By which time we should have an aircraft carrier to send…be it with French aircraft on its flight deck.