The New Yorker - USA (2020-08-17)

THE NEWYORKER, AUGUST 17, 2020 3

session, however, depended on military

enforcement: de-facto control trumped

de-jure possession. But by the eighteen-

hundreds sovereignty could mean the

grouping of peoples and territories under

established laws: legal right reinforced

military might.

MacFarquhar writes that, in 1833, “the

British reclaimed the islands”—a sim-

plistic summary of the moment when

an outmanned, outgunned Argentine

vessel heeded an English ship’s order to

leave the islands. The islands fell under

British rule, which, with the exception

of an Argentine intervention, in 1982,

has persisted. Today, Britain largely rests

its case for sovereignty on its de-facto

control of the islands and the fact that

current inhabitants have democratically

ratified this control—whereas Argen-

tina argues that nothing nullifies the

original sin of a British occupation that

it deems illegal and an absence of de-

jure territorial possession.

MacFarquhar describes Argentina’s

position, in part, as the claim that “Brit-

ish forces on the islands are there to pre-

vent islanders from escaping to Argen-

tina”—an outlandish statement perhaps

based on comments reportedly made by

Jorge Argüello, Argentina’s Ambassador

to the United States. This does not reflect

Argentina’s formal position on the is-

lands, which is outlined in its constitu-

tion. MacFarquhar, who had thousands

of words at her disposal, surely could

have acknowledged the complexity of

this territorial dispute, which the United

Nations Special Committee on Decol-

onization considers valid enough to re-

view annually. The fact that she chose

to overlook Argentina’s viewpoint makes

it seem as if she preferred to avoid an-

alyzing counterpositions to the British

claim on the islands.

Cush Rodríguez Moz

Buenos Aires, Argentina

DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR

Alec MacGillis’s piece on the violence
plaguing dollar stores offers a depress-
ing glimpse into economic decline in
major Midwestern cities (“The Dollar
Store Deaths,” July 6th & 13th). I lived
in St. Louis from 1936 until 1963, and
was moved by the stories that MacGil-
lis tells. Based on my years of academic
research into the economic problems
that cities face, I believe that dollar stores
are more often a symptom than a cause
of this decline. The way to address the
issues that cities such as St. Louis and
Dayton are confronting is not merely
to improve the conditions at dollar stores.
Rather, we need to look toward a guar-
anteed income for all, enhanced gun
control, and a radical reconception of
racial justice.
Alphonse Holtmann
Professor Emeritus, Economics
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Fla.
1
AN ARGENTINE VIEWPOINT

I congratulate Larissa MacFarquhar
on her vivid, intimate portrait of the
Falkland Islands and their inhabitants,
particularly considering the demand-
ing nature of her reporting (“An Ocean
Apart,” July 6th & 13th). But I would
like to call attention to her unfortu-
nately partial treatment of the Argen-
tine claim to sovereignty over the islands.
MacFarquhar fails to mention that Ar-
gentina, which declared independence
from Spain in 1816, considers the Falk-
lands (or the Malvinas, as they are called
in South America) to be part of the
territory that it legitimately inherited.
Buenos Aires had been the capital of a
political region ruled by Spain, and al-
though pieces peeled off, forming Par-
aguay, Bolivia, and Uruguay, Argentina
claimed sovereignty over the remain-
ing territory. In the early years of Eu-
ropean colonial expansion, assertions of
sovereignty could consist of little more
than a beach landing, the assignation
of a name, and, as MacFarquhar indi-
cates, the installation of a plaque. Pos-

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