Argentine President Christina Fernandez issued a decree Tuesday that stated that any ships that would seek passage through southern Argentine waters including around the Falkland Islands would require prior permission by the Argentine government. The problem is, Argentina doesn't control the Falkland Islands, Great Britain does. But now the controversy ensues. The United Kingdom is set to search for oil around the shores of their Falkland Islands this week, but now, they can not legally reach the islands per Argentina's new legislation. The decree apparently comes from Argentina's disapproval of the proposed oil drilling near their country and near a set of islands they feel are rightly theirs.
This is an interesting legal issue, because the UK does control the waters they are drilling in, but they are cutting it awfully close to Argentina's. Plus, directly surpassing this decree could cause a renual of tensions between the two countries who went to was over the islands as recently as 1982. It seems natural for Argentina to be defensive over the drilling around the islands, but I am surprised that Great Britain has decided to directly defy another country's pleadings and wishes and drill anyways. It seems highly disrespectful for the UK to do this, but perhaps they feel like this is the situation to assert their authority and ownership over these islands once and for all.
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