MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine/Falklands legislative dialogue “reopened”

Following a meeting in Buenos Aires with a Westminster delegation, Argentine members of Congress said that the “Falklands/Malvinas dialogue” at parliamentary level has been reopened.

The meeting was held Wednesday in the Argentine Congress building in the framework of the recently created Parliamentary Observatory on the Malvinas issue.

"We talked straight forward, with crudeness but it was very useful, we can say that dialogue on the Malvinas issue, and sovereignty dispute, has been reopened", said Jorge Argûello president of the Malvinas Observatory.

Opposition Deputy Carlos Raimundi said that both sides kept to their positions, "they insisted with kelpers' self determination and Argentina arguing that this is unsustainable because the situation was imposed by force in 1833".

However, "we agreed on the need to find ways of cooperation which are currently suspended", pointed out Raimundi.

The group of visiting British legislators included Lord McNally (Liberal); Lord Faulkner (Labor) and MP Mark Pritchard (Tory).

But the UK delegation pointed out that the fisheries bill sanctioned in Senate "only helps to impair the rights of the Islanders".