MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“We must make Islanders feel they belong to Argentina”

”We have to make (Falklands) Islanders feel (without aggression or anything of the sort) that they are in a territory that belongs to Argentina; they must accept that they are over 13,000 kilometers away from London and geographically speaking they belong to Argentina”, Cesar Mayoral, Argentine Ambassador before United Nations is quoted in a Sunday interview with the Buenos Aires Herald.

"In the past it was wrongly believed that by flattering and trying to seduce the Islanders Argentina would recover the Islands and that is why today Islanders are in such a comfortable position", highlighted Mr. Mayoral when asked if Argentina was not acting too aggressively in the framework of the United Nations Decolonization Committee.

Ambassador Mayoral describes the Falklands/Malvinas situation as a conflict between two countries, Argentina and Great Britain, where basically "Islanders' will bears no importance. Islanders are part of the conflict, but have no say". If Britain didn't "subsidize and aid" the Islands, should Britain leave the Islands on its own resources, "it would be impossible for the Islanders to maintain their attitude".

Further on Mr. Mayoral says that "unfortunately we fought a war led by General Galtieri, which set back a (UK-Argentina) negotiating process that was winding down and with a little more patience would have led to Argentina's recovery of the Islands. In short, we ended up prolonging the status quo". But Mr. Mayoral bluntly adds that "this government will not repeat the same mistakes. All we're trying to do is negotiate in favour of our national interests". As to the Islanders, "kelpers", Mr. Mayoral sees them as "non intruders; they're Argentine just like us; descendants of those who arrived and established themselves by force".

Answering to the specific question: are "Kelpers" the legitimate representatives of the Malvinas Islands? Mr. Mayoral said: "They are sort of like Argentine citizens that were born on Argentine soil that was occupied by a colonial power. They're not intruders; they're Argentines just like us. The problem is that they are Argentines who speak English, have British customs and do not wish to be Argentine. Now, how exactly do we solve this territorial dispute taking into consideration the interests of the Islanders who do not want to be Argentine but who are more connected to Argentina than they would like to admit?".

Talking more broadly about Argentine foreign policy Mr. Mayoral said that it's determined primarily by "the debt and the need to straighten out the domestic market". Argentina is firmly negotiating with private creditors and "in this sense bilateral relations are focused on supporting the Argentine government's efforts to correct economic conditions left by the 2001 crisis".

As to Argentina's relation with the United Nations, Ambassador Mayoral pointed out that the country has been elected eight times to the Security Council, participated countless times in peacekeeping missions and has many experts working for the UN.

"We have always been on the side of peace when it comes to resolving conflicts, and we are a country that looks for multilateral solutions, in other words, without one country imposing its will on others".

Mr. Mayoral also underlined that Argentina condemns terrorism and recalls that the country was victimized by international terrorism when the attacks against the Israeli Embassy and the Jewish Mutual Association in Buenos Aires. "Argentina respects law and democracy", and "looks for international methods to counter terrorism; but "it's a new phenomenon difficult to neutralize because you can't utilize conventional methods and at the same time you must make sure you do not violate the rights of the people who are not at all involved with terrorism". "It seems to me that terrorism preys on conditions of poverty for recruitment".