Falkland islanders cast their vote

Falkland islanders cast their vote

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Falkland Islanders cheer and wave after hearing the result of a referendum in which they voted almost unanimously to stay under British rule.

The far-flung South Atlantic archipelago where they live is the focus of a long-running sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina, which has recently been intensifying its claim over the territory, known to Argentines as the Islas Malvinas.

. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

A man rides his bicycle in the island capital of Stanley, as a Falkland Islands flag flutters in the wind behind him.

The landscape might look bleak and blustery, but that did not stop Britain and Argentina going to war over it in 1982, a conflict that killed about 650 Argentines and 255 Britons and ended with Argentina's surrender.

Three decades on, Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez is increasing pressure on Britain to negotiate sovereignty of the islands, especially since London-listed companies started drilling for oil and natural gas off their coastline. Her country's position was not changed by the recent referendum, which Argentina dismissed as a publicity stunt.

. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Island residents are overwhelmingly pro-British, as the recent poll proved. Voter turnout was 92 percent, and of the roughly 1,500 ballots cast, only three voted against remaining a British Overseas Territory.

In a visible assertion of their national identity, some of the Falkland Islanders who lined up to vote sported Union Jack colours or other British symbols.

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Falkland Islanders mounted on horses lead a parade while waving Falkland Islands flags and Union Jacks.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Falkland Islanders mounted on horses lead a parade while waving Falkland Islands flags and Union Jacks.

A woman wears a t-shirt with the slogan "Our Islands, Our Decision".
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

A woman wears a t-shirt with the slogan "Our Islands, Our Decision".

A woman leans over a sign marking Thatcher Drive. The name commemorates Margaret Thatcher, British prime minster during the Falklands War.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

A woman leans over a sign marking Thatcher Drive. The name commemorates Margaret Thatcher, British prime minster during the Falklands War.

People line up to cast their vote at the Town Hall polling station.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

People line up to cast their vote at the Town Hall polling station.

Falkland Islands policemen patrol the streets.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Falkland Islands policemen patrol the streets.

A dog belonging to one of the islanders waiting to cast their votes wears a Union Jack.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

A dog belonging to one of the islanders waiting to cast their votes wears a Union Jack.

Others line up to cast their ballot in the referendum.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Others line up to cast their ballot in the referendum.

Falkland Islander Joan Turner, wearing a dress made with the colours of the Union Jack, puts her voting slip in the ballot box.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Falkland Islander Joan Turner, wearing a dress made with the colours of the Union Jack, puts her voting slip in the ballot box.

An Argentine veteran of the Falklands War, Gustavo Jimenez, poses for a picture as people line up behind him to vote.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

An Argentine veteran of the Falklands War, Gustavo Jimenez, poses for a picture as people line up behind him to vote.

Falkland Islander Barry Nielsen poses wearing a sparkly Union Jack hat.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Falkland Islander Barry Nielsen poses wearing a sparkly Union Jack hat.

Referendum volunteer Phil Middleton lifts a mobile ballot box into a truck to take it to remote polling stations.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Referendum volunteer Phil Middleton lifts a mobile ballot box into a truck to take it to remote polling stations.

A man rides his motorcycle with a Union Jack pulled over its light as he takes part in a parade.
. STANLEY, Falkland Islands. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

A man rides his motorcycle with a Union Jack pulled over its light as he takes part in a parade.

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Slideshow

In this first image in a series of pictures showing Argentine forces during the Falklands War, an Argentine army officer walks next to a British war plane that was shot down in Darwin in May 1982.
. DARWIN, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre

In this first image in a series of pictures showing Argentine forces during the Falklands War, an Argentine army officer walks next to a British war plane that was shot down in Darwin in May 1982.

An Argentine military cargo-aircraft flies to Stanley, named Puerto Argentino in Argentina.
. STANLEY, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre/Files

An Argentine military cargo-aircraft flies to Stanley, named Puerto Argentino in Argentina.

Argentine soldiers carry brooms over their shoulders as they walk along Ross Road in Stanley.
. PORT STANLEY, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre

Argentine soldiers carry brooms over their shoulders as they walk along Ross Road in Stanley.

Rear Admiral Edgardo Otero (left) and Brigadier Luis Castellanos (right) stand beside General Mario Benjamin Menendez who ruled as governor for 73 days during the Falklands War.
. PORT STANLEY, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre

Rear Admiral Edgardo Otero (left) and Brigadier Luis Castellanos (right) stand beside General Mario Benjamin Menendez who ruled as governor for 73 days during the Falklands War.

General Mario Benjamin Menendez addresses his troops during the war.
. PORT STANLEY, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre

General Mario Benjamin Menendez addresses his troops during the war.

Argentine soldiers read newspapers in Stanley in April 1982.
. SAN CARLOS, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre

Argentine soldiers read newspapers in Stanley in April 1982.

Argentine military personnel belonging to the 601 Company get ready to board a helicopter in the Strait of San Carlos in May 1982.
. SAN CARLOS, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre

Argentine military personnel belonging to the 601 Company get ready to board a helicopter in the Strait of San Carlos in May 1982.

Two Argentine soldiers run along Ross Road in Stanley to take cover from a bombing alert.
. PORT STANLEY, Falklands Islands. REUTERS/Eduardo Farre

Two Argentine soldiers run along Ross Road in Stanley to take cover from a bombing alert.

The surviving crew of Argentine Navy patrol boat Alferez Sobral attend a ceremony honouring their companions killed when the ship was attacked by Britain's HMS Coventry.
. PUERTO DESEADO, Argentina. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian/Files

The surviving crew of Argentine Navy patrol boat Alferez Sobral attend a ceremony honouring their companions killed when the ship was attacked by Britain's HMS Coventry.

The surviving crew of Alferez Sobral stand during the ceremony honouring their companions.
. PUERTO DESEADO, Argentina. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian/Files

The surviving crew of Alferez Sobral stand during the ceremony honouring their companions.

Surviving crew of the Argentine Navy patrol boat carry a coffin containing the body of one of their fallen comrades.
. PUERTO DESEADO, Argentina. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian/Files

Surviving crew of the Argentine Navy patrol boat carry a coffin containing the body of one of their fallen comrades.

Falkland Islanders vote overwhelmingly to keep British rule

Residents of the Falkland Islands voted almost unanimously to stay under British rule in a referendum aimed at winning global sympathy as Argentina intensifies its sovereignty claim.

The official count on March 11 showed 99.8 percent of islanders voted in favour of remaining a British Overseas Territory in the two-day poll, which was rejected by Argentina as a meaningless publicity stunt. There only three "no" votes out of about 1,500 cast.

"Surely this must be the strongest message we can get out to the world," said Roger Edwards, one of the Falklands' assembly's eight elected members.

"That we are content, that we wish to retain the status quo ... with the right to determine our own future and not become a colony of Argentina."

Pro-British feeling is running high in the barren and blustery islands that lie off the tip of Patagonia, at the southern end of South America. Turnout was 92 percent among the 1,649 Falklands-born and long-term residents registered to vote.

Three decades after hundreds died when Argentina and Britain went to war over the far-flung South Atlantic archipelago, islanders have been perturbed by Argentina's increasingly vocal claim over the Malvinas - as the islands are called in Spanish.

Local politicians hope the resounding "yes" vote will help them lobby support abroad, for example in the United States, which has a neutral position on the sovereignty issue.

"We're never going to change Argentina's claim and point of view, but I believe there are an awful lot of countries out there that are sitting on the fence ... this is going to show them quite clearly what the people think," Edwards said.

The mood was festive as islanders lined up in the cold to vote in the low-key island capital of Stanley, some wearing novelty outfits made from the red, white and blue British Union Jack flag.

"We are British and that's the way we want to stay," said Barry Nielsen, who wore a Union Jack hat to cast his ballot at the town hall polling station in Stanley, where most of the roughly 2,500 islanders live.

PRESSURE ON BRITAIN

Argentina's fiery left-leaning president, Cristina Fernandez, has piled pressure on Britain to negotiate the sovereignty of the islands, something London refuses to do unless the islanders request talks.

Most Latin American countries and many other developing nations have voiced support for Argentina, which has stepped up its demands since London-listed companies started drilling for oil and natural gas off the Falklands' craggy coastline.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the referendum clearly showed the islanders wanted to remain a British overseas territory.

"All countries should accept the results of this referendum and support the Falkland Islanders as they continue to develop their home and their economy," he said in a statement.

"We have always been clear that we believe in the rights of the Falklands people to determine their own futures and to decide on the path they wish to take. It is only right that, in the 21st century, these rights are respected."

However, officials in Buenos Aires questioned the referendum's legitimacy. They say the sovereignty dispute must be resolved between Britain and Argentina and cite U.N. resolutions calling on London to sit down for talks.

"This (referendum) is a ploy that has no legal value," said Alicia Castro, Argentina's ambassador to London.

"Negotiations are in the islanders' best interest. We don't want to deny them their identity. They're British, we respect their identity and their way of life and that they want to continue to be British. But the territory they occupy is not British," she told an Argentine radio station.

Argentina has claimed the islands since 1833, saying it inherited them from the Spanish on independence and that Britain expelled an Argentine population.

The 1982 war, which killed about 650 Argentines and 255 Britons and ended when Argentina surrendered, is widely remembered in Argentina as a humiliating mistake by the discredited and brutal dictatorship in power at the time.

But most Argentines think the islands rightfully belong to the South American country and they remain a potent national symbol that unites political foes.

Falkland islanders, who are enjoying an economic boom thanks partly to the sale of oil and natural gas exploration licenses, say they do not expect Monday's result to sway Argentina.

"Argentina's stance on the Falklands will stay the same," said Stanley resident Craig Paice, wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan "Our Islands, Our Decision" as he waited to vote on Monday.

"But hopefully the world will now listen and know the people of the Falkland Islands have a voice."