MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Taiana accuses UK of “arrogance gestures” and not complying with UN

Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Taiana

On the 25th anniversary of the South Atlantic conflict Argentina accused Great Britain of “arrogance gestures” and of “repeatedly denying international mandates” to dialogue over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).

Accusations come the day before the 1982 Argentine forces landing in the Falklands and following a week of escalating announcements by President Nestor Kirchner's administration including the withdrawal from a bilateral agreement on oil and gas exploration and black listing those companies that operate in the disputed South Atlantic areas. In a long Sunday interview in the Buenos Aires tabloid Pagina 12, Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Taiana criticized parades planned in London for the anniversary as evidence of a typical "arrogance gesture" from Prime Minister Tony Blair. "What they are planning to do it's not as he says (Tony Blair) a commemoration but a militaristic victory parade, a typical arrogance gesture", underlined Taiana. In Argentina the main commemoration is organized by Malvinas veterans and is scheduled to take place in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, extreme south of the country, and headed by Vice President Daniel Scioli. Taiana described the Falklands/Malvinas conflict as a "colonial anachronism dispute". The Falklands have been under British sovereignty since 1833 with the exception of 74 days during the 1982 war when the Argentine forces took the Islands. "It was a tragic and wrong war" but "it did not alter the nature of the dispute" emphasized Taiana who claims that the United Kingdom has "repeatedly denied to comply with international mandates" to begin sovereignty talks. For Argentina 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the war but also the 42nd of the United Nations Resolution 2065 which states that London and Buenos Aires hold discussions over the disputed Islands. "For 25 years the UK has refused to comply with the mandate", and is about "to celebrate the quarter of a century since the armed conflict", said Taiana. However Taiana rejected claims that the Kirchner administration is making use of the Malvinas conflict, a highly sensitive issue for Argentines, with political purposes just a few months away from congressional and presidential elections scheduled for next October and when a Kirchner is expected to run: be it the president who would be bidding for re-election or his wife Senator Cristina Kirchner, both of whom have strong showings in public opinion polls.