A banner shows the map of the Malvinas Islands with colors of the flag of Argentina, with the words "The Malvinas Are Argentinian," at a memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Malvinas War. Photo: Sputnik/Samuel Cortés Hamdan.
The British government sent its minister of the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, who until recently was in charge of British military assistance to Ukraine and “Israel,” to the British-occupied Malvinas Islands of Argentina. In an interview with Sputnik, Argentinian journalist Daniel Guzmán remarked that London is taking advantage of the current Argentinian government of Javier Milei to “advance more quickly” in the militarization of the Malvinas.
A little over a month after the foreign ministers of Argentina and the United Kingdom promoted in New York the beginning of “a new stage” in the bilateral relationship of the two countries, London sent Luke Pollard to the Malvinas Islands and carried out several actions that reinforce its military power on the occupied territory.
According to the British authorities of the islands—belonging to Argentina but occupied by the United Kingdom since 1833—Pollard’s visit “highlights the UK’s support for the security and self-determination of the islands,” as well as “the shared history and connections between the islands and the British Armed Forces.”
For Daniel Guzmán, a veteran of the Malvinas War and editor of the Argentinian media outlet focused on the Malvinas Islands, Agenda Malvinas, the visit of the Labour MP Pollard should be interpreted not only within the framework of the Malvinas issue but also within a geopolitical scenario that concerns London.
In this regard, Guzmán pointed out that Pollard, as one of the heads of the British Ministry of Defense, has been in charge of the UK’s military assistance to Ukraine, as well as British support for the Zionist entity in its military assault on Gaza.
“The British are reinforcing everything, both equipment and military bases, allocating more funds within the panorama of increasing war, both in what is happening in Ukraine and in the Middle East,” Guzmán commented.
In any case, for Guzmán, what is concerning is the passivity that the Argentinian government has shown in the face of the arrival of a prominent figure from the British Ministry of Defence to the Malvinas Islands. “Argentina has made no comments, issued no opinions, neither from the Foreign Ministry nor from the Ministry of Defense,” he decried.
Guzmán, a former combatant of the Malvinas War himself, added that in September, the then Argentinian Foreign Minister Diana Mondino signed, along with her British counterpart David Lammy, an agreement that aimed at relaunching relations between the two countries supposedly without affecting the Malvinas issue, but the Argentinian government allowed a new flight between Sao Paulo and the islands and restarted the work of identifying remains of the fallen soldiers.
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According to Guzmán, this position of the government of Argentina only made it easier for the British government to accelerate the militarization of the Malvinas, where the Monte Agradable military base is located, considered the most important NATO military complex in the South Atlantic.
“The British are absolutely opportunistic and are going to use these years of Javier Milei’s government to advance much faster than, for example, the time of Mauricio Macri [2015-2019],” he pointed out.
Indeed, the United Kingdom seems to have accelerated the process of strengthening the defenses of the islands in recent weeks. In October, the specialized site UK Defense Journal reported the signing of a contract with the US company IBM to deploy the Guardian computer system, designed to “improve coordination and response times, particularly in highly challenging environments” for the control of the islands’ airspace. The contract amounts to about 30 million pounds, that is, about $39 million.
Moreover, the British government will also invest around $4.8 million to install a “secure” and efficient wifi network exclusively for military personnel on the islands, aiming to improve the connectivity of its troops.
Guzmán linked these steps to the strategic supply possibilities that the islands will gain with the establishment of a weekly flight between the Malvinas and Sao Paulo. “It is an essential flight because it means being connected with the main passenger and cargo airport in Latin America,” he commented, stressing that the flights will be fundamental to supply materials and labor to the Sea Lion oil field and the megaport that the British intend to build in the islands by 2027, with which the UK aims to launch its occupation of Antarctica.
“The British are taking a position in the South Atlantic, not for Argentina, but for the significance of this area, for its natural resources and those of the Antarctic, which has become more significant in the conflict scenarios in Ukraine and the Middle East,” Guzmán emphasized.
(Sputnik) by Sergio Pintado
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
