Britain, Argentina sparring again over the Falklands The letter sparked immediate indignation in Britain's halls of power, with the notoriously zealous British tabloids joining the fray Friday. Rupert Murdoch's Sun tabloid took out an advertisement in the Buenos Aires Herald, warning Argentines to keep their "hands off" the islands. The latest exchanges underscore the extent to which the sparsely populated islands, which cost the lives of more than 900 people in the 1982 Falklands War, remains a hot-button issue on both sides of the Atlantic. "The future of the Falkland Islands should be determined by the Falkland Islanders themselves," Cameron said in a statement on British television. Whenever they've been asked their opinion they've said they want to maintain their current status with the United Kingdom. They're holding a referendum this year and I hope the president of Argentina will listen to that referendum and recognize it's for the Falkland Islanders to choose their future. One of the last outposts of the British Empire, London's efforts to preserve the Falklands has long been viewed at least in part as an attempt to maintain a vestige of its glorious past. However, over the past 18 months, the issue of ownership has also become a question of economic gain, with the discovery of potential vast stores of oil. Rockhopper Exploration, a British oil firm, believes that it has found a cache of 450 million barrels, with the potential for more. Equally central to Britain's position is the fundamental belief that the Falkland Islanders should have the right to self-determination. Residents of the English-speaking islands have long stated a desire to remain British. In the face of mounting political pressures from Argentina, the residents of the Falkland Islands have scheduled a referendum for March 2013 in order to reaffirm their standing as a British overseas territory. The evolving struggle over the islands has, over the past few months, resulted in another kind of war - an economic attack on the cruise ship industry. Tensions have risen as Argentina has begun prohibiting ships flying U.K. or Falkland Island flags from docking in Argentine ports. These escalated measures have resulted in several cruise lines canceling trips to the Falklands altogether. Among them, Holland America's Veendam, German liner AIDAcara, and Prestige Cruise Holdings" Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises have scrapped visits, blaming pressure from Argentina. Originally, 81 cruise ships and 60,000 passengers were scheduled to visit Stanley, the capital, during this season, which lasts until April, but that number has already been drastically reduced. In what might be considered a patriotic stand, major British cruise line P&O Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival U.K., has canceled all scheduled visits to Argentine ports in 2013. The news came after Britain summoned Argentina's ambassador to London, Alicia Castro, to protest what the British government considers to be "increasingly aggressive actions against the people of the Falklands Islands." Among these, an attack led by masked men who tore apart a shipping services company in Buenos Aires. The British government alleges that the assault was made in an effort to deter vessels from visiting the Falklands. Following the incident on Nov. 19, the cruise company associated with the shipping agents decided to cancel a trip to the islands. Attempts to squash the Falkland's tourism industry have taken a toll on Stanley, where about a quarter of the working population is involved in cruise ship tourism. Small business owners Kevin and Hattie Kilmartin run Bluff Cove Lagoon Penguin Tours near Stanley. "We had a war here 30 years ago, we're not unused to the fact that Argentina has certain issues with us," Kevin Kilmartin said. But recently they've been cranking up the economic warfare.