Kirchner says British rule over Falklands is absurd
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said yesterday on the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War that it was “absurd” for Britain to argue it has the right to rule the South Atlantic archipelago located 14,000 kilometres from its shores. “It is absurd...
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said yesterday on the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War that it was “absurd” for Britain to argue it has the right to rule the South Atlantic archipelago located 14,000 kilometres from its shores.
“It is absurd to claim control (of the Falklands) from 14,000 kilometres away when the territory is on our continental shelf,” she said in a 20-minute speech during a remembrance ceremony in honour of the 649 Argentine victims of the conflict.
With tensions running higher over the disputed archipelago thought to have significant oil wealth beneath surrounding seas, Ms Kirchner said Buenos Aires, which claims the islands held by Britain since 1833, would respect the interests of the some 3,000 local residents.
“We are not asking for anything more than a dialogue between the two countries to discuss the issue of sovereignty, respecting the interests of the islanders as stated in UN resolutions,” she told the crowd.
“It is an injustice that in the 21st century, a total of 16 colonial enclaves still exist, including 10 ruled by Britain,” the Argentine President said.
Earlier, some 5,000 people attended a remembrance vigil in honour of the war dead in Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city.
Ms Kirchner made a fresh appeal to London to accept dialogue to resolve the bitter sovereignty dispute over what Argentina calls the Malvinas and considers part of its national territory.
On April 2, 1982, the then ruling junta in Argentina stunned the world when it landed troops in the capital of the Falklands, Port Stanley, on April 2, 1982.
The war ended in defeat for Argentina, costing the lives of 649 Argentine troops and 255 British servicemen, after Margaret Thatcher sent in a naval task force to reclaim the territory.
Once the British troops had made the long voyage, they were locked in an often bloody battle, hilltop by hilltop, until Britain wrested back control of the windswept islands it has ruled since 1833.
In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron stressed that his country remains “staunchly committed to upholding the right of the Falkland Islanders, and of the Falkland Islanders alone, to determine their own future”.
“Thirty years ago today the people of the Falkland Islands suffered an act of aggression that sought to rob them of their freedom and their way of life,” he said.
Britons were “rightly proud of the role Britain played in righting a profound wrong”, he added, paying tribute to the “prosperous and secure” society built there since the war.
“Not only was the freedom of the islanders attacked. But Cameron apparently was not aware that the freedom of all Argentines was robbed, there were thousands of missing detainees,” Ms Kirchner countered.
The Argentine President also said that last Friday she sent a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross urging it “to intercede with Britain for the identification of remains of dozens of British and Argentine soldiers” who have yet to be identified.