Argentina Says Britain Is Raising Tensions in Falklands

Argentina’s foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, said at the United Nations that the deployment would violate the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to which both Britain and Argentina are signatories.

Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mark Lyall Grant, rejected Argentina’s contention that Britain was engaging in the “militarization” of the dispute, which led the two countries to war nearly 30 years ago, as “manifestly absurd,” and warned Argentina against escalating it.

“Clearly, if there is an attempt to take an advantage of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, we will obviously defend our position and defend it robustly,” he said at a news conference at the United Nations.

He did not confirm or deny that Britain had sent a nuclear submarine to the region.

“We do not comment on the disposition of nuclear weapons, submarines, etc.,” he said. Britain is not threatening any other countries in Latin America, he said, but he acknowledged that British nuclear submarines “go around the world in international waters.”

“That is what makes them deterrents,” he said.

The sharp exchange reflects deteriorating ties between Argentina and Britain as the April anniversary nears of the start of the 1982 war over the islands, which both countries claim. The 10-week conflict claimed more than 900 lives before Argentina surrendered.

After Argentina formally complained to the United Nations Security Council on Friday about Britain’s display of military might, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, urged the two nations to resolve their differences through dialogue.

Such dialogue seems distant at the moment. Britain insists that Argentina respect the wishes of the Falklands’ 3,000 residents to remain a British dependency.

Argentina contends that the islanders, like Britain’s sway over the islands themselves, are a vestige of British colonialism. The islanders are largely descended from British settlers and speak English. “This is not an indigenous population,” said Mr. Timerman, the foreign minister.

Britain has announced that it will send one of its most advanced destroyers to the Falklands, replacing an older frigate. A British force of 1,500 is also stationed there, including Prince William, second in line to the British throne and an air force pilot, who recently arrived.

Tension around the Falklands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, has been brewing for decades. But the dispute began to regain steam in 2010, when British companies started exploring for oil in the waters around the archipelago. The exploration results have not been very promising.

Some political analysts in Argentina say that the focus on the Falklands is a distraction that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is using to divert attention from economic problems at home, including high inflation and capital flight. But others are not so sure.

Argentina, for its part, does not have a dire need for more oil reserves, thanks to huge discoveries of shale oil. Argentina’s economy is still expected to grow 4 percent this year, after robust growth in 2011. Mrs. Kirchner’s approval rating stands at more than 70 percent.

Still, efforts to attain sovereignty over the islands are broadly popular in Argentina. In making the issue prominent again, Mrs. Kirchner may also be consolidating her power.

“Political support is like wealth,” said Federico MacDougall, an economist and political analyst at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires. “You never have enough.”

Simon Romero reported from Rio de Janeiro, and Charles Newbery from Buenos Aires.

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