Argentina Claims Broad Support on Falklands

In 1982, when Argentina and Britain went to war over the Falkland Islands, Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentine dean of Latin American letters, likened the war to the struggle of two bald men for a comb.

This week, the dispute over the desolate islands, about 300 miles off the Argentine coast in the South Atlantic, heated up again after Britain claimed a 200-mile fishing zone around the Falklands, and said it would actively enforce its fishing rules within a 150-mile zone.

On Friday, Argentina claimed widespread domestic and international support in the new flare-up.

President Raul Alfonsin put in person-to-person phone calls to heads of state in Latin America and West Europe, and his government reported that verbal reassurance had been received from Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany and President Francesco Cossiga of Italy. A Foreign Ministry official was dispatched to Europe to drum up more support.

Fiery Messages

Peru and Venezuela, which like other Latin American countries support Argentina’s 150-year-old claim of sovereignty over the Falklands--here called the Malvinas--sent fiery telegrams backing Argentina.

The foreign ministers of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil agreed to meet this weekend on the question.

Argentine officials weighed an offer by U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar to serve as intermediary. French President Francois Mitterrand has made a similar offer, the Argentine government said.

Argentine Foreign Minister Dante Caputo and Interior Minister Antonio Troccoli met with political and business leaders Friday to discuss the Argentine reaction to what the government calls a “provocation” by the British.

“The government has my total support; Argentines must unite in this moment of crisis,” said Alvaro Alsogaray, a conservative congressional foe of Alfonsin.

1,000 Died in War

A committee of top government and armed forces leaders chaired by Alfonsin will meet for the first time today. Caputo, speaking with newsmen Friday, disclaimed any bellicose intention toward the islands, which Argentina invaded in the spring of 1982 and the British retook in fighting that claimed nearly 1,000 lives.

“There are no military movements, no troop movements, or any military alert in the South Atlantic,” Caputo said. He warned, however, that there could be “some friction” in the waters encompassed by the new British zone.

Recovery of the islands, which Britain administers as a colony, is at the core of Argentine nationalism and a paramount goal of Argentine foreign policy.

Repeated attempts to bring the two countries to the bargaining table have foundered on the issue of sovereignty. Britain will not discuss it. Argentina will not discuss anything else without it.

New Claim

Britain has maintained a 200-mile military exclusion zone around the islands since the war but had made no claim to extended fishing rights until this week. Britain cited concern about overfishing as the reason for the move, which is to become effective next Feb. 1.

Britain accused Argentina of “aggressive” patrolling in the disputed waters. A crew member died in May when an Argentine coast guard cutter sank a Taiwanese fishing boat in the area. In August, British warplanes flew low over Argentine fishing boats near the edge of the military exclusion zone.

New fishing treaties between Argentina and the Soviet Union and Bulgaria were unanimously ratified by the Argentine Senate Friday night. The British contend that the agreements purport to demonstrate Argentine jurisdiction over waters that rightfully belong to the islands.