MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina denies ‘political opportunism’ in Malvinas sovereignty-claim campaign

Oscar Parrilli, probably Cristina Fernandez closest aid who is increasingly becoming more vocal

The Argentine government said that the Malvinas Islands sovereignty claim is “not political opportunism” or geared “to remove other issues from the country’s political agenda” and is coherent with the political and ideological thinking of both Presidents Cristina Fernandez and her late husband and former president Nestor Kirchner.

“We are interested in negotiations with the UK because Malvinas for us is not a war but a flagrant case of sovereignty rights abuse that has been going on for 180 years”, said Oscar Parrilli, Secretary General of the Argentine presidency and an influential character from the Cristina Fernandez ‘bunker’ who is leaving behind his low profile and becoming increasingly vocal.

“The attitude of President Cristina Fernandez in defence of these sovereignty principles is not political opportunism or a specific political need, but rather an expression of political and ideological coherence”, insisted Parrilli

He added that the “Malvinas question is an issue of territorial integrity and not of self-determination since the UN does not recognize the rights of the residents of the Islands” to determine on that field.

Parrilli and other top government officials including Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman made the statements during a political rally attended by Malvinas veterans at the seat of the National Peronist Front, a grouping belonging to the ruling coalition.

Timerman rejected the accusations that Argentina has set a blockade on the Falklands and argued that the situation is exactly the opposite from the moment the illegal occupation of the Malvinas Islands is a “blockade against all Argentines”.

“I’ve seen that many are saying that Argentina has set a blockade to the Malvinas Islands, thus isolating the Islanders, but that’s far from true as it turns out to be the other way around. The one setting a blockade here is the United Kingdom. It’s the Argentines that for the past nine generations, like the Vernet family (heirs of the 1833 Argentine Malvinas Governor), couldn’t live in the Malvinas Islands because of the blockade of a military power against Argentina.”

Likewise Timerman condemned the ‘militarization’ of the South Atlantic as the official insisting that “Malvinas is the most militarized territory in the world with a ratio of 1.5 soldiers per 3 civilian habitants in the Islands. And this is not justified as there is no real military threat”.

Timerman also argued that the Malvinas “don’t belong to Galtieri (the military dictator who ordered the invasion of the Falklands in 1982), and the conflict did not start with the 1982 war. It’s a historic process that began in 1833 with the British invasion to the archipelago. Today, we use the weapons of peace of the 21st century to resolve a 19th century colonial conflict.”

Marcelo Koeing head of the National Government School Nestor Kirchner said it was time to reflect on the war of three decades ago.

“It is notorious the difference between that tragic success and the policy of President Cristina Fernandez based on dialogue and consolidation of peace, converting the Argentine legitimate sovereignty claim over the Falklands and the South Atlantic in a state matter”, underlined Koeing.

Finally former cabinet chief and currently Senator Anibal Fernandez again bashed British PM David Cameron calling him ‘quite ignorant’ and insisted that “there is not a single country in the world that recognizes that the UK has rights over the Islands”.

“The British PM is quite ignorant besides the fact of trying to take advantage of the situation with some ‘pseudo patriotic nationalistic’ gestures which he believes can improve his domestic political standing. But his ignorance makes him a naked PM”, said Fernandez.

He added that PM Cameron has insulted Argentina by “calling us colonialists” and saying “we are intent in appropriating the freedom of the Islanders” when what is really happening is trying to give value to a war that was organized and executed by a dictatorship and not a freely elected government “.

Fortunately “Malvinas has become a global issue, all the world is speaking of Malvinas, and there is not a single country that recognizes that the UK has rights over the Islands”.