Falklands War: Thirty years on from the Argentine invasion, how do the islanders view the anniversary?

It was on April 2, 1982 that Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands and, outnumbered, the small garrison of Royal Marines soon surrendered.

Three days later the British Task Force set sail from Portsmouth to recapture the islands and other territories in the South Atlantic including South Georgia. It took three weeks for the ships to reach the islands - 8,000 miles away.

[Related gallery: Commemorations for Falklands War victims]

On 14 June British forces took back Port Stanley, the islands' capital, a day known as Liberation Day to islanders. Here, Lisa Watson, editor of Penguin News, the Falkland Islands' weekly newspaper, tells Yahoo! News how islanders feel about the 30th anniversary of that invasion.

What is the mood on the island like in the lead-up to the anniversary? 

April 2 is ignored by Falkland Islanders, the important day for us is June 14 Liberation Day.

Possibly the only sign of anything different taking place is the increase in excitement in the Argentine press and an increased number of Argentine war veterans and South American journalists visiting.

On April 1 the veteran members of the Islands local volunteer force the Falkland Islands Defence Force march to the liberation monument as a commemoration marking the day they were called out in defence of the Falklands.


                       [Related Article: Falklands 'will be ours one day']

How do the islanders feel about all the media attention?

At first it caused a lot of tension - it's stressful having to read what the rest of the world wants for your future, particularly as most of the authors don't have a deep understanding, or in some cases, any understanding, of the reality of the situation in the South Atlantic.

But I think Islanders are becoming increasingly numb to it, which to some extent is a positive thing because then they can just get on with normal life - and in fact life is really quite normal here if you ignore the media hype.

How has the economic blockade affected relations with Argentina?

There's definitely now a harder attitude towards Argentina ever since the Kirchner government began its attempt to undermine our economy - the shipping situation is nothing new though, they banned charter flights to the Falklands many years ago.

Kirchner's erratic pronouncements on the Falklands have certainly done nothing to reassure Islanders that the Argentine government is a mature, trustworthy one.

Do islanders fear another war?

Not a war I don't think, although Islanders are aware that if they did not have a British military presence here then Argentina would find it a simple matter to isolate us from the rest of the world and force submission to their wishes that way.

The Argentine government also knows this and that is why they object to the military presence, not because of their disingenuous claims that they "fear" the military presence.