MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina says UK/Latam relations could falter if Falklands issue remains unsolved

Ambassador Castro argues that the ‘Malvinas’ has become a regional cause

British relations in South America could falter if the UK Government refuses to hold talks on the Falkland Islands sovereignty with Argentina, the country’s ambassador to London said this week.

Alicia Castro tried to pull Argentina’s immediate neighbours into the dispute, claiming UK diplomatic and business relations could be damaged since the Malvinas has become a regional cause. She added the Malvinas would be better off if they cut their ties with the UK.

Describing the Falklands as a “colonial enclave”, Ms Castro said her government would send teachers to the Islands to teach Spanish, while it also wanted to re-establish direct flights between the Falklands and the mainland.

She told Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News that Argentina “did not want to change the way of life” on the Falklands, insisting the Islands had to be “given back to Latin America as a whole”.

And she claimed an advert depicting an Argentina athlete using a war memorial on the Islands to do step-ups was not designed to upset relations between the UK and Argentina.

Ms Castro said: “Is it rational that a small community, in the name of very particular wishes and interests, are against any dialogue?

“Does it make sense, since they are not regarding the interests of the 60 million British people, they are not regarding the interests of the 40 million people in Argentina and they are not regarding their best interests, which would no doubt be better preserved if they were linked to the continent?”

“It’s not an Argentine cause, it’s a regional cause. The UK not wanting to have a proper dialogue with Argentina, it’s (turning) its back on Latin America as a whole. If it’s true that Britain wants to improve its relations with Latin America, they (the British Government) have to settle this dispute.”