Falklands: Argentina’s 60-Year Campaign for Sovereignty Over the Islands

Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands has now lasted six decades since the United Nations formally recognized the dispute in 1965. The conflict with the United Kingdom has moved through war, failed negotiations and periods of practical cooperation, but the sovereignty question has never disappeared.

The latest tension emerged this week when Argentina filed a lawsuit against Israel’s Navitas and Britain’s Rockhopper over an oil extraction project in waters around the archipelago. Buenos Aires considers those waters its own. Comments by Donald Trump about a possible review of the United States’ position have added another uncertainty, EFE reported.

The dispute reaches back to 1833, when British forces took control of the islands. Talks began in 1966 and continued until 1982, with proposals including joint administration and a possible transfer of sovereignty. The Falklands War ended those negotiations. Argentina’s military dictatorship ordered the occupation of the islands, and Britain won the conflict, in which hundreds of Argentines and Britons died.

After democracy returned, President Raúl Alfonsín tried to reopen dialogue. Talks in 1984 failed after Britain refused to discuss sovereignty. The 1989 Madrid agreements later restored relations and allowed progress on fishing, hydrocarbons and communications, without changing either side’s claims.

Successive governments have maintained that combination of diplomatic demands and practical cooperation. In 2024, Argentina and Britain agreed to advance humanitarian issues, fishing and connectivity under a sovereignty safeguard formula. The United Nations and the Organization of American States have recently repeated calls for dialogue. The dispute has also appeared in sport: after Argentina defeated England at the 2026 World Cup, Argentine players displayed a banner reading “The Falkland Islands are Argentine.”

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The Falkland Islands are Argentine.