Thursday, April 8, 1982
Eugana, Oragon
Oregon daily
Volume 63
Number 126
emerald
Declares ‘exclusion zone’
Britain readies for war
LONDON (AP) — Defense Secretary John Nott said
Wednesday night that Britain has declared a 200-mile
"maritime exclusion zone" around the Falkland Islands,
effective next Monday
He told the House of Commons that as of 4 a m
Greenwich Mean Time (11 p m Sunday, Eastern
Standard Time) "any Argentine warships and Argentine
auxiliaries found within this zone will be treated as
hostile and are liable to be attacked by British forces
Argentina invaded the Falklands on Friday, and
Britain has not given the locations of ships that were at
sea and headed for the area before the main naval force
left Portsmouth on Monday
Officials gave no immediate indication whether any
British warships will be within the zone by Monday, but
Britain has a naval base at Ascension Island about
4.400 miles away and port facilities at islands that are
closer
"Our first naval action will be intended to deny the
Argentine forces on the Falklands the means to rein
force and resupply from the mainland," Nott said
Britain's new Foreign Secretary Francis Pym
warned Argentina's military rulers earlier that Britain
"does not appease dictators," but warmly welcomed
U S efforts to defuse the Falkland crisis, which began
when Argentina invaded and occupied the crown
colony on Friday
Secretary of State Alexander Haig prepared to fly to
London and Buenos Aires in a bid to defuse the crisis
The Soviet Foreign Ministry reiterated its position in
the conflict "is neutral.” The U.S government says it
too is steering a neutral course in the dispute
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who demands
,TANL!
FALKLAND INLANDS
JISLAS MALVINAS)
"DEL FUEGO
TRES
NT AS
CAPE HORN
0 200
- ' Graphic by Max DeRungs
Isa
the Argentines withdraw, refused to resign over the
Falklands crisis Tuesday, and today prices rallied on the
London Stock Exchange and the pound sterling
rebounded on the strength of her stance
In Buenos Aires, Argentina’s interior minister said
his nation would defend the Falklands "to the last
Argentine soldier” and Britain could not threaten
Argentina into making concessions.
The big British naval task force en route to the
Falklands was in the third day of its 8,000-mile voyage. It
was expected to reach the islands 250 miles off Argen
tina’s eastern coast on April 20
Nott s announcement came at the end of the
second emergency Commons debate in four days on
the Argentine invasion of the South Atlantic Falklands
colony
Pym accused Argentina of “the rape of the
Falklands,” and declared to the Commons: “We intend
to see that the islands are freed from occupation
and returned to British administration at the earliest
possible moment.”
The Foreign Office said Pym “warmly welcomes
Pres Reagan's decision to send Mr Haig to London. He
comes as a friend and ally to consult with us on an issue
of great importance to us both — the implementation of
Security Council resolution 502 for which both coun
tries voted” Saturday. The resolution calls for the
withdrawal of Argentine forces from the Falklands.
As the British navy readied more warships to join
the 40-ship armada heading for the islands. Pym told
the Commons the fleet "should show the Argentine
regime we mean business."
British troops on the convoy were ordered to shave
off beards before reaching the Falklands so that gas
masks could be worn if needed “We are coordinating a
program to meet the threat,” said Cmdr. Ken McKenzie,
the operations officer on the aircraft carrier Hermes.
A British correspondent aboard the Hermes
reported the crew was “working up to full readiness"
with battle drills, intensive flying trials, commando
exercises and damage control preparations.
The Times of London said three frigates and one
destroyer were expected to join the armada that sailed
Monday, and that as many as four nuclear-powered
submarines could already be on the way to the islands.
The navy declined comment for “security rea
sons,” but the Times identified the subs as Superb,
Scepter, Spartan and Splendid, the frigates as Oido,
Euryalus and Battleaxe, and the destroyer as the Fife
As a large part of Britain’s navy sailed south,
Argentine C-130 transports kept up a daily airlift of
soldiers, artillery and ammunition to the thousands of
troops that overran Stanley, the Falklands capital, last
Friday
The Argentine news agency DYN said officers
returning from the Falklands reported the troops were
digging trenches and foxholes and constructing for
tifications to defend their hold against the British fleet.
Two nations argue over ‘hostages’
WASHINGTON (AP) - While the Reagan admin
istration worked for a peaceful solution to the crisis in
the Falkland Islands, representatives of Argentina and
Britain argued over whether the Falkland inhabitants
are hostages
Officials of the two nations met with U S Secretary
of State Alexander Haig, who spent much of Tuesday
seeking a way to head off a war between the two
countries.
Argentina’s foreign minister and Britain's U S
ambassador, speaking to reporters after meeting Haig,
repeated their opposing positions and disagreed over
whether the remote islands' residents are hostages
Argentina's foreign minister, Nicanor Costa Men
dez, said he was optimistic negotiations would settle the
issue, but Sir Nicholas Henderson said Argentina's
forces would have to evacuate the Falklands.
Costa Mendez said his country will provide
transportation for any resident who wants to leave the
islands 250 miles off Argentina's eastern coast, and will
compensate them for their property
But Henderson called the 1,800 to 2,000 English
speaking inhabitants — nearly all of whom are British
citizens — hostages And he appeared to scold
Washington for not being more concerned.
"You were very concerned when you had 52
hostages," Henderson said, referring to the American
hostages in Iran “We have 2,000 hostages down there
Large principles are at stake.”
Costa Mendez complained that Henderson was
"completely wrong, absolutely wrong" in calling them
hostages
"Every islander is free to stay there and if he stays
there he will have all the rights that he had up to now,”
Costa Mendez said. "But if he wants to go, he can go
tonight, he can go tomorrow
“We will send a plane or a boat if they want to leave
the islands and we will compensate every damage
that they could suffer and we will even buy their
property," he said
"So you cannot call them hostages because they
are absolutely free to stay or to leave.” he said.
Costa Mendez said Haig offered U S assistance to
help its "two good friends" resolve the conflict without
further violence and voiced optimism that there will be
such a settlement.
Photo by David Corey
David Tamarin
Internal flaws
spur invasion,
historian says
By Chris Courtnier
Ot the Emerald
Argentina’s military junta decided to capture
the Falkland Islands to divert attention from the
serious economic problems the Latin American
nation faces, a University historian said Wed
nesday.
David Tamarin, an assistant professor of
Latin American history, said the purpose of the
military junta is not to free the islands from British
rule, but rather to “gather people around their
(Argentina’s) flag."
"The current military regime has proved to be
a great failure in solving Argentina's economic
problems," Tamarin said. "It's a blatant attempt to
divert the public's attention of the economic
issues."
A week before the takeover of the Falklands,
thousands of people in Buenos Aries
demonstrated against the regime's current eco
nomic policies, he said.
Argentina is experiencing economic difficul
ties because their export industry is suffering,
Tamarin said. For the country to recover econ
omically, a transition needs to be made from an
export economy to an integrated industrial econ
omy.
The 2,000 inhabitants of the Falklands con
sider themselves to be “her majesty's loyal sub
jects," Tamarin said, and they would probably
openly object to the military takeover if they were
not afraid of facing adverse consequences from
the regime.
A military confrontation is imminent, he
added
"I don’t see how the Argentines can be
induced diplomatically to withdraw."
"If it really came down to biows, it will be
ultimately decided by the superiority of the British
fleet. The military president will no doubt fall, and
the military junta will be forced to turn the power
over to the British.
One of the reasons Argentina claims to be
interested in the Falklands is because of the
offshore oil that surrounds the islands, Tamarin
said. But Argentina has no need of the oil since
the offshore oil already under it's jurisdiction
exceeds the amount they can afford to process
The conflict over the Falklands spans several
hundred years and the current crisis is “symbolic
of a long-standing love-hate relationship between
Argentina and Britain,” Tamarin said