2012-01-16

Argentina's cold war on the Falklands

As Ron Paul likes to say in the debates, sanctions are often a precursor to war. At least, they are war by another means, a cold war, an economic war, a financial war. An earlier post,Is Argentina Going to War? , was prompted by the boarding of several fishing vessels by the Argentine navy. Now, Argentina is stepping up its economic war on the important fishing industry, see: Squid Wars in South America
Argentine Illex squid live for one or two high-octane years. Like most squid, they eat anything that moves, grow fast, migrate, reproduce, then die. Now Argentina is urging its fishermen to catch the mollusks before they migrate into the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands, which would deliver a strategic blow to the Falkland economy. Squid comprise half the value of the Falkland fisheries.
Last month Argentina convinced Brazil, Uruguay and Chile to shutter their ports to any ship flying the Falkland flag. Are the two nations becoming entwined anew in tentacles of combat?

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