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Argentina’s Falkland Islands Claim A "Permanent" Objective
Claiming sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is a "permanent and unrelinquished" objective of Argentina, according to the country’s foreign minister.
Susana Malcorra told the United Nations she wanted the dispute over the UK territory to be resolved through negotiations.
However, the British government has rejected any discussion over the islands’ sovereignty despite a UN committee adopting a non-binding resolution calling for a negotiated solution.
Ms Malcorra told the Special Committee on Decolonisation that the concept of self-determination did not apply in the case of the Falklands because the people living there were put there by Britain after they seized the islands in 1833. She said:
"The passing of time has not eroded the validity of our claim, nor the strength of our conviction that this protracted sovereignty dispute must be solved through negotiations between the two parties involved."
The UN resolution is one of dozens adopted over the years calling for the two countries to negotiate the sovereignty of the islands.
The UK has rejected all of them, saying it is up to the islanders, of which there are around 3,000, to decide.
The British Mission to the UN said:
"The 2013 referendum - in which 99.8% of those who voted wanted to maintain their current status - sent a clear message that the people of the islands do not want dialogue on sovereignty. Argentina should respect those wishes."
The two countries fought a war over the Falklands in 1982 after Argentina invaded the islands and were repelled by British forces.
Ms Malcorra said Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship at the time, so a negotiated settlement should not be disqualified.
A member of the Falklands Islands government legislative assembly, Mike Summers, rejected the claim they were an implanted population and said they were happy with the way things are:
"Falkland Islanders are comfortable with the constitutional relationship we have with the United Kingdom. We have a right to move away from it if we so wished, but there is no current wish to do so."
"We are a people in our own right, who deeply care for our country and our home. We are Falkland Islanders. It has taken us around 160 years to decolonise from the United Kingdom, and we have no intention of becoming a colony of any other claimant."
Cover image: Goose Green, Falkland Islands. Courtesy: John5199
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