ABSTRACT
Negotiation involves the elimination of alternatives–one after another–in search of a definitive solution. In March 1981, the Argentines came up with their own version of a sort of option. If sovereignty were transferred to Argentina, they would transform the Malvinas into the country’s most favored region, which could retain its distinctive language, culture, and even its legal system. Argentine policy toward the Falklands/Islas Malvinas has always had considerable continuity of content and intention. The ongoing dispute with Chile over the Beagle Channel seems to have been given second place by the Galtieri administration and priority given to the expeditious resolution of the Falklands/Malvinas Islands affair. The process of negotiation was also acquiring new urgency because of its inner dynamics. British attitudes and approaches to the negotiations contrasted with those of Argentina. Diplomacy moved from peaceful negotiations to hostile ones and from direct negotiations to negotiations by proxy.
