Prince William stirs Falklands' debate

With escalating tensions between Argentina and Great Britain over the Falklands, planned military exercises, including a six-month tour of duty by Prince William in the archipelago, are expected lead to more agitation.

According to The Times , London has decided to reinforce its presence around the Falklands (known as Las Malvinas in Spanish) after Buenos Aires began a campaign to keep ships visiting the islands from docking in any sea ports in Chile, Uruguay and Brazil.

The 29-year-old British heir to the throne reportedly "lobbied" military officials so that they could send him on the Falklands mission. His uncle, Prince Andrew, was dispatched to the Falklands during the 1982 conflict when Britain went to war with Argentina after the then-military government had invaded the islands. In 2009, William's planned tour-of-duty as part of the Defence Helicopter Flying School was canceled after Buenos Aires protested.

But last week, Prime Minister David Cameron irked the Argentineans when he told the House of Commons that he would never negotiate the oil-rich islands. "What the Argentineans have been saying recently, I would argue, is far more like colonialism because these people want to remain British and the Argentineans want them to do something else."

In response, Argentinean Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman said that Buenos Aires "is not going to answer any threat in a military tone."

"People laugh when they read that. [...] They cannot understand how a country that was a symbol of 17th, 18th, 19th and even 20th century colonialism can accuse a country that was a victim of colonialism. "The only key England has to put an end to this entanglement is direct negotiations with Argentina."

The United States also poured fuel on the fire by announcing last week that it would continue to "recognize de facto United Kingdom administration of the islands" but would take no position regarding sovereignty.

Cameron's comments came after Britons became outraged when President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner last month successfully convinced her fellow Mercosur partners, as well as Chile, which isn't a member of the regional trading bloc, to keep ships traveling to and from the Falklands from docking in regional ports. London likened the move "to an economic blockade."

Argentina began blocking vessels from docking at its ports in 2010. Argentinean diplomacy has become more aggressive since vast underwater oil reserves were discovered. One British oil explorer, Desire, estimates that there could be some 3.5 billion barrels of petroleum in the North Falkland Basin - more than the combined oil reserves of Britain and Argentina - as well as large reserves of natural gas.

Dick Sawle, a Falklands lawmaker, asked Buenos Aires "to leave us in peace."

"Argentina has to respect the desires of the islanders, and we want to remain under British sovereignty. The fundamental point is that all of this is self-determination, something that is clearly backed by the United Nations."