DIPLOMACY : Undercurrent of Bitterness in Falklands

An updated chronology of war and peace in the South Atlantic:

1982: Argentina and Britain go to war over the Falkland Islands, a British colony that Argentines call the Malvinas. Britain wins.

1989: After seven years without direct diplomatic or commercial relations, the countries embark on a new path of rapprochement.

1991: Relations continue to improve. But possible petroleum exploration and a ban on commerce between Argentina and the islands loom as divisive issues.

Island residents are pressing London for legislation to permit contract oil drilling in offshore areas where studies have shown promising geological formations. Some British officials have supported this, but no official action has been taken. Argentina wants to discuss oil exploration by the two countries. British officials say they have not ruled out any options.

An Argentine official, speaking off the record, made it clear that any move by Britain alone to begin drilling would spoil the current climate of cooperation.

Commerce between Argentina and Britain has grown rapidly since its resumption in 1989, and the countries have had full diplomatic ties since early 1990. But Falklanders still refuse to accept direct travel and trade with Argentina. Many of the 2,000 islanders remain embittered over the 1982 invasion and 74-day occupation of their homeland by the military government that then ruled Argentina.

Officials in Argentina’s current civilian government contend privately that British authorities encourage unreasonable opposition by islanders to resumed contact. Some analysts say the British fear that, through increased contact with the islands, Argentina could nurture a relationship that might undermine British sovereignty.

The Argentines argue that the ban on travel and trade between the colony and its closest mainland neighbor is artificial; many Falklanders have relatives in Argentina, and the islands could get supplies more readily and cheaply there than anywhere else.

For whatever reasons, Argentina wants renewed contact as soon as possible. Without it, this country is likely to become increasingly frustrated with the accommodation process.

One key accomplishment of the process, so far, has been Anglo-Argentine cooperation in conserving fisheries. Last November, the countries signed an agreement that included a temporary prohibition on fishing in a crescent of disputed waters north, east and southeast of the Falklands.

Britain enforces the ban, but Argentine vessels also patrol the huge area, radioing reports of violations to the British.

But inside the no-fishing zone, within a radius of 150 nautical miles from the center of the islands, the local Falklands government sells fishing licenses to vessels from other countries, including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Spain.

Under an agreement reached when direct talks began in 1989, both sides stipulated that sovereignty over the islands is not at issue. But Argentina has not given up its claim to the islands, seized by the British in 1833. The British position? “We’re not available for discussions of sovereignty.”