Falklanders aim to send message with referendum

Falkland Islanders were to hold a referendum yesterday and today to send a message to the world that they want to stay British, although Argentina has already dismissed the vote as illegal.

Residents of the archipelago in the South Atlantic hoisted British and Falklands flags and even created a giant "YES" made of SUVs ahead of the vote.

In a move instigated by residents themselves, 1,672 eligible voters are being asked whether they want the Falklands to remain an internally self-governing British overseas territory.

Argentina and Britain fought a brief but bloody war over the islands in 1982, and diplomatic tensions have escalated in recent years with the discovery of oil near the Falklands.

Britain has held the barren islands since 1833 but Buenos Aires claims what it calls Las Malvinas are occupied Argentinian territory.

"We would be deluding ourselves if we thought that Argentina would change overnight, but we hope it'll be a strong message to them and to others," said legislative assembly member Jan Cheek, a sixth-generation Falkland Islander.

Falklanders hope the outcome - and ideally a big turnout - will provide a slap in the face to an increasingly bellicose Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.