Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands is “inalienable,” declared the nation’s president last Wednesday.

In a speech marking the 26th anniversary of Argentina’s failed attempt to conquer the Falklands, President Cristina Kirchner stated: “The sovereign claim to the Malvinas Islands is inalienable.” She said the efforts of those who died in the war with Britain should not be forgotten.

Argentina’s Vice President Julio Cobos spelled out what Buenos Aires has in mind: “We must recover this territory that is ours, that belongs to us.”

For several years, Argentina has been vocalizing such intentions, perhaps testing—or preparing—the waters of international opinion. In 2006, Buenos Aires warned Britain of a “drastic change” in its efforts to gain sovereignty over the Falklands, and launched a parliamentary commission to press Argentina’s claims for possession of the islands. Times Online reported, “Diplomats have been instructed to make the Falklands a priority, helping to keep the claim prominent on international agendas” (June 27, 2006).

Will we see Britain give way? An indication of London’s softened stance on the issue is its allowance of Argentina to hold a memorial service on Falklands soil for Argentine solidiers killed in the 1982 invasion of the island—a memorial to the invading enemy.

The Falklands, a group of islands that lie 300 miles off the tip of South America, have great strategic value in terms of trade, defense and access to resources. It is not only national pride that is at stake.

Prior to World War ii, Britain and the United Stated together controlled every major sea gate in the world. Control of these strategic passageways proved indispensible to the Allies in winning that war. Based on Bible prophecy, Herbert W. Armstrong predicted that the U.S. and Britain would lose these gateways in this end time (Deuteronomy 28:52). The Falklands is among the few sea gates that Britain still controls. But, as we wrote eight years ago, “the Falklands’ days under British rule are numbered.”

Argentina has made its intentions clear. Watch for it to make further moves to force Britain to yield control of this historically crucial sea gate. For more, read “Will Britain Lose the Falklands?”