Insults exchanged over Falkland islands

Guardian:

The Falkland Islands newspaper the Penguin News has triggered uproar on Argentinian social networks by calling President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a bitch.

The newspaper's website uploaded a photo of Fernández briefly using the insult as a file name on Wednesday, a day after she accused Britain of militarising the south Atlantic islands.

The word triggered an immediate avalanche of complaints and abuse from Argentinians, reflecting heightened sensitivity towards the archipelago in the runup to the 30th anniversary of the war with Britain.

The Buenos Aires daily La Nacion said the word, "perra" in Spanish, was a strong "anglo-saxon term ... signifying disrespect". Within hours more than 2,000 readers responded with comments, many vitriolic.

The Penguin News, which is printed weekly and online updated daily, usually has a tiny readership – the islands have a population of 3,000 – but the escalating diplomatic row between London and Buenos Aires has in recent weeks attracted many readers in Argentina, which calls the islands Las Malvinas and asserts ownership.

To illustrate a story about Fernández's speech on Tuesday it uploaded a photograph of the president with the offending word. Those who saved the image found that the default file name was "bitch".

Challenged by an Argentinian on her Twitter feed the editor, Lisa Watson, replied: "emmm oops – not now you'll find." The word was removed. Watson referred to colleagues' "dry humour". By then however the page had been saved and posted on multiple websites, prompting online fury.

The editor's Twitter feed reflected angry and often vicious hate messages. Penguin staff did not reply to emails or phone calls last night but last week, before the controversy, Watson told the Guardian she had been receiving abusive messages for weeks.

"I receive threats and insults via our work email address and on Twitter. The threats I try not to take seriously, particularly as the individuals tend to sign their name and even offer 'besos' (kisses) after claiming they are coming to the Falklands and their first task will be to kill me. Mainly I am referred to as a prostitute, liar, thief and pirate, other words I really wouldn't like to mention."

... 

It is not unusual for enemies to exchange insults.  The inhabitants of the Falklands do not want to see their land taken over by Argentina and they reject the Argentine  claims to the islands that have been British for generations.

As for the militarization, the Brits would be foolish not to increase their defenses with Argentina reasserting claims to territory the UK sees as theirs.