Argentina's anguish has sharpened with realisation it may have lost *valuable natural resources in the South Atlantic as well as national pride. Argentina has claimed "Las Malvinas" since Britain occupied them in 1833, making the archipelago a source of national yearning for Argentinians. Losing the 73-day conflict in 1982 aggravated the sense of injustice. It has worsened since the islands began to thrive: fisheries *licences generate millions of pounds, which could be dwarfed by oil and gas revenues. A scramble is under way off South America's Atlantic coast and the Antarctic. Argentina and Britain have extended claims over the continental shelf around the Falklands, and with Australia, China, France, New Zealand and Russia claim waters further south. President Cristina Kirchner has raised the prospect of Argentinian troops in the Antarctic to protect resources. *Brazil, meanwhile, has posted troops in the Amazon and is beefing up its ****** to protect oil and gas deposits 200 miles off its Atlantic coast.
