Argentinian politicians' strident claims about the Falklands are offensive and cruel

Argentina's Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner saying 'Las Mavlinas [the Falklands] son Argentinas' after their 2-1 win over England in the World Cup (Picture: Shaun Botterill) | Getty Images

Ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup match against England, Argentina’s foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, wrote an article in which he rejected the result of a 2013 referendum in the Falkland Islands – when islanders voted almost unanimously to remain a British overseas territory – on the spurious grounds that the population had been “artificially implanted by the occupying power”.

Forget that this phrase could also be used by his country’s indigenous population to describe all Argentinians of European descent, his argument essentially seeks to deny the islanders the right to self-determination, despite some families having been there for generations.

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So when the country’s players celebrated their win with a fans’ banner saying islands are Argentinian, they were making a claim that is backed by leading politicians. It is one that would force Falklanders to change their nationality against their will, become foreigners in their own land, or perhaps lead to their expulsion.

That would be an unjust fate for anyone, but for an island that was invaded by Argentina, then under a brutal dictatorship, within living memory, the strident, deeply undemocratic language used by some Argentinians is unwarranted, offensive and cruel.