International Desk

Argentina threatened yesterday to use its troops in the Antarctic region to defend its interests.

This new escalation in the region is being treated very seriously according to sources in the Falkland Islands with a formal statement expected today. The new belligerance by the Argentinians means that a new threat is posed to Britain’s rule over the Falkland Islands.

Even though Britain won the war over the Islands in 1982 by driving Argentinean forces away, the South American country still considers the region a territory of its own.

Argentina’s President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, said “This world is no longer a world divided by ideology…It is more complex, and it is necessary to defend our natural resources, our Antarctica, our water” reports the Daily Telegraph.

As part of its foreign policy, Britain has the right, under a United Nations convention, to claim more than 350,000 square miles of sea bed.

However, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said, yesterday, that Britain has not made a formal submission to the UN “although we reserve the right to do so” the Daily Telegraph reports.

Action has also started on the parts of Australia, China, France, New Zealand and Norway to heighten their presence and call for a piece of the cake, in a region that could be a vital oil resource.

A formal statement from the Falklands Island Government is expected today which we will publish.

Image credit: The Falklands Islands Government Office