海角大神

In a sunny classroom in rural Argentina, a teacher stands in front of a group of primary school students in white coats.聽

Behind her two maps pasted on the chalkboard display Argentina and the wing-like shape of a group of 800 tiny islands Argentines contend are being illegally occupied by the United Kingdom.

鈥淲ould I need a passport to go to Tierra del Fuego?鈥� the teacher asks.

鈥淣o,鈥� students say.

鈥淭hen why is a passport required to go to Malvinas?鈥�

鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 dominated by the English.鈥�

This exchange during a geography lesson in a documentary that aired on public television late last year is part of Argentina鈥檚 revamp of school curriculum in order to revive sympathy for the republic鈥檚 longstanding claim to what it calls the Malvinas, otherwise known as the Falkland Islands, that lie 310 miles across the聽south Atlantic from Argentine Patagonia.

The campaign is part of a broader effort by the administration of President Cristina Fern谩ndez de Kirchner to assert sovereign rights to potentially lucrative natural resources in the Falklands territory and Antarctica.

A disputed history

How the islands came to belong to Great Britain, some 8,000 miles away, is a taught history that diverges greatly depending on perspective.

Mrs. Kirchner has framed Britain鈥檚 takeover as 鈥渁 blatant example of 19^th-century colonialism鈥� while Falklanders, some of whom trace back nine generations on the islands, say that they are proud of their British heritage.

Argentina says it inherited the islands from Spain after winning its independence in 1816 only to be plundered by British pirates 17 years later.

Argentina鈥檚 so-called revisionist historians have reclaimed Antonio 鈥淓l Gaucho鈥� Rivero, once a condemned figure in Argentina鈥檚 history as the leader of a murderous rebellion in the Falklands, as a patriot. Mr. Rivero, hired by French merchant Luis Vernet to work in a settlement that was sold to him by the United Provinces of the River Plate, the predecessor to the Argentine republic, murdered the settlement鈥檚 five commanders, the event that triggered Britain鈥檚 return to enforce its claim.

In a recent episode of 鈥淶amba鈥檚 Amazing Tour,鈥� a popular children鈥檚 show produced by a state-run animation company in which a little boy revisits key moments in Argentina鈥檚 history, Zamba travels back to 1982 to learn why the islands are Argentine and the injustice of the British occupation.

鈥淭here are countries that think they own the world," an Argentine聽fighter pilot tells Zamba.

Critics: 'indoctrination'

Jan Cheek, a member of the territory鈥檚 legislative assembly who oversees education, condemns such programming as 鈥渁lmost indoctrination.鈥�

Falkland Islanders, whose educational system is modeled after the British, are not taught about the sovereignty dispute until they reach high school, Cheek says.聽

Unlike Argentine students, who are taught that the British invaded the islands in 1833, islanders learn in classrooms that the British never gave up its claim, originating from an Englishman鈥檚 discovery in 1592, and had no colonial interests because the islands were empty when they arrived.

鈥淭he accusation that we expelled an Argentine population is not correct because there was no indigenous population. The people who were expelled in 1833 were a small garrison from South America of several nationalities who had been behaving riotously, killed the commanding officer and were shipped back. But all the civilians who had settled on the islands in prior years were invited to stay,鈥� Cheek says.

This version of history is cemented in the minds of pupils when they leave the islands for Britain around the age of 16 to continue their studies, fully-funded by the Falklands government, through university.

Both Argentina鈥檚 and the Falklands鈥� national identity hinge on this disputed history.

During moments of political turmoil, Argentines have rallied around the Falklands claim as their greatest patriotic cause.

Referendum today

Islanders are hoping today and tomorrow鈥檚 referendum will demonstrate their wish to maintain their political status as an Overseas British Territory.

Argentines are conflicted over a tradition of rankling over the islands and growing sympathy, since the end of the 1982 war, with the islanders鈥� plea for self-determination.

Despite winning initial support, the military junta鈥檚 1982 invasion is now generally considered a last-ditch effort by a morally bankrupt government to stave off public rebellion.

After its defeat in a 10-week war with Britain that cost the lives of 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors, and air force and three civilians, Argentine leaders, including public teachers, became less vocal about the cause.

鈥淭o teach about Malvinas is painful,鈥� a teacher from the Argentine province of Santiago del Estero says in testimony to a congressional committee on the islands. 鈥淚 am one of those Argentines who personally suffered the paradox of the construction of nationality, that feeling that led us to define homeland through our rights to the Malvinas. We went from condemning imperialism before April 2 to the pain of the surrender, and later on the silence.鈥�

Reintroducing the cause

Kirchner has fervently reintroduced the cause into public debate in Argentina, pledging in her first inaugural speech in 2007 鈥渙ur unwaivable and irrevocable claim to sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands, where there is a colonial situation that has been denounced before the United Nations.鈥�

A new National Education Act directs public school teachers鈥� pedagogical approach to the Falklands in lessons 鈥� whether history, geography, or civics 鈥撀爐hat support the sovereignty claims, says Alberto Sileoni, Mrs. Kirchner鈥檚 former education minister.

鈥淭he actions of the ministry aim at designing policies that contribute to knowing the history of the islands and to have a feeling for and love them as ours,鈥� Sileoni writes in a compilation called 鈥淭he Malvinas Question,鈥� published in 2010.

Public schools are no strangers to nationalist causes in Argentina, and the phrase 鈥淢alvinas are Argentina鈥� is imprinted in the minds of many generations, like it is now imprinted, in posters, graffiti, and t-shirts across Buenos Aires.

During recent diplomatic and trade missions, Kirchner has won the support of China, Russia, and a host of other countries across Asia and Africa.

The 鈥淢alvinas Question鈥� has also been taken up by celebrities, with Sean Penn, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, and Morrissey all having attested publicly that the Malvinas are Argentine.

Kirchner鈥檚 charge that the UK plans to rob Argentina of the deep-sea oil reserves recently discovered off the Falklands echoes last year鈥檚 nationalist takeover of YPF, the Argentine branch of Spanish oil giant Repsol, and current skirmishes with bondholders in New York in a suit over defaulted Argentine debt.