U.S., NATO line
up as Falklands
crisis deepens

The dispute over the Falklands-
Malvinas has escalated dangerous-
ly, with the death toll already in the
hundreds in the few days since the
first armed clash.

But with every passing day, it has
become more apparent that it is not
a battle over the right of the Falk-
landIslanders, but a battle over oil,
resources — and for a continuing
neo-colonial role for Britain;
NATO and the U.S. in the South
Atlantic,

Despite growing criticisms of
Britain’s belligerence following the
sinking of the Argentinian de-
stroyer, the General Belgrano —
the Republic of Ireland, for ex-
ample, has dissociated itself from
Britain’s stand and has urged the
lifting of EEC sanctions against
Argentina — the Thatcher govern-
ment has remained adamant in its
battle course, with foreign secre-
tary Francis Pym informing the
UN that the time ‘‘was not right’’
for its intervention.

Calls have come repeatedly —
and from virtually every quarter —
for UN intervention to resolve the
dispute by peaceful means, particu-
larly since the first casualties were
recorded.

But as late as Wednesday this
week, the British were still holding
out the possibility of a full scale as-
sault on the islands.

The British stand recalled earlier
decisions by that country in regard
to UN resolutions on the future of
the long-disputed Falkland
Islands, known as the Islas Mal-
vinas in Latin America.

Made part of the Republic of
Argentina when the country was
liberated from Spanish colonial oc-
cupation in 1819, the islands were
seized by Britain in January, 1833
when the British naval commander
lowered the Argentinian flag flying
over Port Stanley, ordered the gov-

ernor out and raised the British col-
ors.

Argentina never relinquished its
claim, however, and when the UN
Special Committee on Decoloniza-
tion, reporting in September, 1964,
named the Falklands-Malvinas as
one of several non-self governing
areas which should be ‘‘decoloniz-
ed,”’ negotiations were set to begin
the following year on the future of
the islands and sovereignty over
them:

Agreement was reached in UN
discussion between Britain and Ar-
gentina on the principle of transfer
of sovereignty to Argentina, with
provision for joint exploitation of
resources by both Britain and Ar-
gentina. Britain later dismissed the
agreement, however.

The Thatcher government has
lately been at pains to diminish the
importance of the resources issue
and just this week, British energy
minister Hamish Gray stated in
Houston, Texas that the oil re-
serves on the Falklands shelf were
“unknown.”’

But the Soviet publication New
Times noted last week, quoting a
report from the New York Times,
that oil reserves on the shelf were 13
times the known oil reserves of the
lucrative North Sea oil fields.

The oil industry has also indicat-
ed that deposits have been found in
the area by Esso, Royal Dutch Shell
and Total.

But more significant is the align-
ment of Britain, NATO and the
U.S. in the wake of the Falklands-
Malvinas crisis.

“The alliance with the U.S: is
part of a strategy to assure continu-
ing control over the South Atlant-
ic,’ Communist Party leader Will-
iam Kashtan stated in an interview
with the Tribune Tuesday.

Kashtan was preparing to ad-
dress a meeting in Toronto, called
by the CP to discuss the issue.

The Race to the Falkland Islands.

“Britain is seeking to hold on to

its colonial possessions,’ he said,
adding that ‘‘she fears that if the
Falklands go, Gibraltar, Hong
Kong and Northern Ireland may be
next.””

At the same time, he emphasiz-
ed, the crisis has created a cleavage
between the U.S. and Latin Amer-
ica and between the U.S. and the
Organization of American States
which was originally created to
maintain U.S. domination in the
region.

Underscoring a statement
adopted earlier by the Communist
Party, Kashtan called for Cana-
dian support for the ‘‘decoloniza-

tion’’ principle adopted by the UN.

and for UN resolution of the cur-
rent conflict by peaceful means.

“‘The escalation of the war has
created a very, very great danger to
peace,’’ he warned.

He particularly deplored the po-
sition of the federal government
which has agreed to make com-
munication systems available to the
British fleet. By that action, Can-
ada has made herself an ‘‘ally of a
neo-colonialist position,”’ he said.

The CP leader called for recog-
nition of Argentinian sovereignty
on the islands, emphasizing that a
final resolution of the issue must

TIERRA DEL
_ FUEGO

May 3: British helicopters

sink one Argentine
patrol boat and
damage another

-

FALKLAND “<
ISLANDS:

:
wt
rt)

ve
\S
\
en
‘ee
‘
%,

.
‘\
.

eo
Island
May 2: British submarine
torpedoes Argentine
Cruiser outside 200-
mile blockade zone

--
=.

May 1: British jets bomb /

Atlantic Ocean

i= ih Stanley

> 5

Port Stanley airstrip -
Argentine jets launch
counter attack against
British fleet. a

take into account the people of the
Falklands-Malvinas, many of
whom, however, accept the idea of
Argentinian rule.

Kashtan also dismissed the at-
tempts by the media to portray the
conflict as one between a righteous
British government and a right-
wing Argentinian dictatorship.

‘‘The issue is not British democ-
racy versus the Argentinian junta,”’
he said, adding that the dispute
would not diminish Argentinians’
demands for democratic and trade
union rights.

‘People have to see what is the
central contradiction in the dispute
— and that is the struggle by Latin
America against neo-colonialism,”’
he said.

The stand against neo-colonial-.
ism and for decolonization has
been the basis on which many Latin
American countries, as well as the
Movement of Non-Aligned Coun-
tries, have supported the principle
of Argentinian sovereignty.

Governments in Nicaragua,
Mexico and Venezuela, for ex-
ample, have backed Argentina
claims to sovereignty.

The Communist Party of Ar-
gentina, in a press conference in
Buenos Aires before fighting broke
out, also declared support for the
return: of the Falklands-Malvinas
to Argentine control.

“But peaceful negotiations are
fundamental,’’ Fernando Nadra, a
member of the CPA political com-
mission, stated.

He told the news conference that
“the struggle may be a hard one’’
to maintain Argentine sovereignty
over the islands. For that reason, he

said, the CPA ‘‘calls for the im- |
mediate lifting of the state of
siege,”’ the martial restrictions in
force in Argentina since the mili-
tary took power in 1976.

He stated that the country’s con-
stitution must be fully applied, the
trade union and political prisoners
must be released and the military
junta must ‘‘provide an enlighten- —
ing reply’’ to the question of what —
happened to the thousands who °
have “disappeared” since 1976.

That position was echoed by the -
Argentine Montonero Peronist
Movement (MPM) in a statement )
published in the weekly review of |
the Cuban Communist Party daily, |
Granma.

“Regardless of who carried out _
the operation or their intentions,”? |
the statement said, ‘‘the recovery
of full national sovereignty over the |
territory (of the Falklands-Malvin- -
as) is still a genuine demand of the
Argentinian people.

“However, we must stress that |
full national sovereignty is imposs- _
ible so long as there is no people’s
sovereignty,”’ it stated.

Three days before the military
occupation of the Falklands-Mal-
vinas, ‘‘these same rulers had re-
pressed thousands of Argentines” |
who had taken to the streets to pro-
test the economic and social poli-
cies of the government, it added.

The MPM called for the lifting
of the state of siege and amnesty for
all political and trade union prison-
ers.

Both the CPA and the MPM dis-
missed as ‘‘absurd’’ any prospect |
of mediation by the U.S., empha- |
sizing that the U.S. considers Brit-—
ain its closest ally in NATO. ;

Meet

MURRAY
DOBBIN

The author of The One-
iand-a-Half Men will
be autographing copies
of his book

Sat., May 15
1-2 p.m.

at the

People’s Co-op Bookstore

; 353 West Pender Street, Vancouver
(See the review of Dobbin’s book in the Tribune’ ‘s May Day issue)

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 7, 1982—Page 10