Argentina said Tuesday that it would prevent ships from traveling through Argentine waters to the Falkland Islands, reviving a controversy that has been quiet for nearly 30 years.

The Times writes that Argentina is “in effect awarding itself the power to blockade the disputed islands” and that the “decree amounts to an Argentine move to control all traffic from South America towards the islands.”

The cause of the row is not the islands themselves, but the oil reserves within the Falklands’ territorial waters. British firms are scheduled to begin exploring for oil around the Falkland Islands soon. Despite being soundly beaten in 1982, and the complete absence of any strong historical claim to the islands, the Argentines still maintain that the Falklands and their surrounding waters are theirs.

Experts estimate that there could be up to 60 billion barrels of high-grade oil in the economic area surrounding the island. This makes the islands a very big deal: Whoever owns them would own one of the world’s largest oil reserves.

Argentina is adamant that Britain should not get the oil. Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said, “We will do everything possible to defend and preserve our rights.”

The decree, signed by President Cristina Kirchner and issued on February 16, states that “all vessels trying to transit between Argentine continental ports and Islands’ ports, or cross Argentine maritime spaces heading to a port in the Islands must request prior authorization from the Argentine government.” Its goal, Kirchner’s Chief of Staff Anibal Fernandez stated, is “not only a defense of Argentine sovereignty but also of all the resources” in the area.

On February 11, Argentine authorities boarded a ship claiming it was illegally transporting pipes to the Falklands.

In 1982, Britain fought Argentina to preserve its right to these islands because of the gutsy leadership of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. But there are no leaders in Britain with such backbone today.

“British possession of these islands has meant British control of one of the great sea gates of the world,” wrote Herbert W. Armstrong in the early 1980s. “One of the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, directly re-promised to Ephraim (Britain) and Manasseh (United States) in our day, was to possess these gates of enemy nations. These gates included the Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Cape of Good Hope, Gibraltar, Singapore, and these Falkland Islands. God prophesied that, because of disobedience, we should lose these islands in this end time. All have been lost except these Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong and some other incidental islands” (member and co-worker letter, April 21, 1982).

Now Hong Kong is gone. The EU threatens Gibraltar. Watch for Britain to lose the Falkland Islands soon.