MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ten years on - still disagreement on Falklands’ agreement

The 1999 agreement reinstated Lan Chile flights to the Falklands from Punta Arenas and allowed holders of Argentine passports to visit the Islands.

On the tenth anniversary of the agreement July 14th 1999 between Britain and Argentina on the Falklands, an elected representative of the time still maintains she was right to disagree with the decision that allowed Argentine passport holders the right of access to the Islands.

Former Councillor, Norma Edwards told the Falkland Islands Radio Station (FIRS) that Argentina has not kept its promises on air access or shared commitment on fisheries conservation.

With regard to the latter she said, “Shared commitment was not enhanced, they (Argentina) share less information with us than before.”

Allowing Argentines into the Falklands meant Islanders “gave away our ace card.”

On air access she claims it was intended the Falklands would be allowed charter flights and potentially another scheduled flight, but this has not happened, “I don’t think anything has come out of this at all apart from Argentines can come in and out… they haven’t kept to any part of the agreement.”

Assembly Member Mike Summers, who was also a councillor in 1999, disagrees. He told FIRS, “…the outcome of the 1999 agreement was as good as we might have expected.”

Putting the situation in context he said. “We had been having discussions with the Foreign Office over a period of time, to some extent because the LanChile Flight had been stopped due to the Pinochet affair. It was Robin Cook’s firm advice to us that we would be as well to try and reach some kind of understanding with the Argentines about access and flights and as many other issues as we could get on the agenda because we probably wouldn’t see another government in Argentina as moderate as that for some considerable time – history may well judge that he was right.”

He added that he understood why Islanders felt betrayed because councillors had made assurances that no agreement would be reached without full consultation.

“Unfortunately life doesn’t always turn out as you expect and the reality was that if we were going to reach any kind of understanding it couldn’t be done in public – the Argentines certainly couldn’t deliver their side of it if it were to be done in public…”

Summers accepts that parts of the Agreement have not stood the test of time, but despite, “…quite hostile Argentine governments,” since that time, “…the Falklands have noted a, fair amount of benefit from the Agreement,” particularly the, “critically important part,” the reinstatement and continuation of flights.

Following the arrest of General Augusto Pinochet in London (Pinochet was indicted in 1998 by the Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón, arrested in London and finally released by the UK government in 2000) Chile abandoned its traditional friendly relationship with Britain and actively sided with Argentina.

As a result of this the LanChile flights into the Falkland Islands were stopped.

After the agreement on the Falklands between Britain and Argentina was signed the LanChile flight was reinstated although Pinochet remained in detention at the time.

Further information on the 1999 Agreement: http://www.falklands.info/history/99agree.html

By Lisa Johnson – SeAledPR – Stanley