What were Argentina's intentions for the Falkland Islanders?

Upvote:13

Hahahahaha Yes!!! I didn't have much choice re deportation. The Argentine top brass said I was being booted out because of (allegedly) printing Anti-Argentine propaganda over the years.

Huh! Not true. I still remember that morning three weeks after the invasion when a couple of soldiers came to my flat and told me I had 30 minutes to pack my stuff and get to the airport!

Still cannot believe it's THIRTY-FIVE years ago 😁

Best wishes to you all... 
Dave Colville 
Former owner/ed of the Falkland Islands Times 

Upvote:15

In the 74 days that Argentina occupied the Falkland Islands several people were at first deported and then placed under house arrest at Fox Bay East. Governor Rex Hunt was removed from the islands the day of his surrender:

I refused to shake hands with him and said: "You have landed unlawfully on British territory and I order you to remove yourself and your troops forthwith."

He said: "We have taken back what is rightfully ours and we shall stay forever."

I had to get out by 4.30 that afternoon. We were flown to Montevideo.

Governor Hunt - BBC Article, 2002

As were other Falkland Islanders, such as Bill Luxton and David Colville, who were identified by Argentinian Military Police as being potential troublemakers as they were known to be publicly critical of Argentina.

In fact, the deportation of David Colville indicates that the Argentinians might not have allowed the continued use of the Falklands name by papers as at the time of the invasion he was the editor/owner of The Falklands Times.(David Colville's final Falklands War episode, June 2007)

It appears that 13 people were deported from the Falkland Islands immediately following the invasion, followed by the 29 Royal Marines. While others were placed under house arrest.

April 5th The Argentine occupation forces have imposed strict military rule …The Islanders are under house arrest until further notice, and anyone defying this order is threatened with immediate imprisonment. … Other penalties have been imposed in the face of growing hostility from the Islanders. These include 30 days in prison for rude gestures against the military, 60 days for irreverence to the Argentine flag… Messages from radio hams … say that troops are searching homes and confiscating equipment.

April 13th A party of 13 civil servants, including the Chief of Police, the Registrar General and the Chief Secretary, are deported from the Falklands. Executive Council member, Bill Luxton, and his wife, are also deported by β€˜Chief of Police’ Patricio Dowling for β€˜political reasons.’

April 28th

14 Islanders, deemed β€˜troublemakers’ are detained at Fox Bay East.

The Falkland Islands History and Timeline

It is known that in the short period of occupation that Argentines did make many changes consistent with plans to completely change the islands to be fully part of Argentina. Spanish was made the official language, Port Stanley was renamed Puerto Argentino, Falklands stamps were franked over with Argentine post codes/post marks, traffic was changed to drive on the right, signs were changed over to be in Spanish and use the metric system and the peso replaced the Falklands Pound.

Martin Middlebrook in his book The Argentine Fight For The Falklands., along with numerous other sources, states that Argentina planned to and did, for the most part, treat Islanders with respect and prevented the taking of their food, homes and other possessions but whether this indicates that they planned to allow them to stay or to force deportation I do not know. However, given all the changes described in the paragraph above it does appear that the Argentine's, to some extent, did intend on their being Argentinian settlers on the islands.

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