MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ lawmakers and Hague meet and regret Timerman’s ‘empty chair’

“It is a shame that Argentine Minister Timerman was unwilling to join us for a conversation about the Falkland Islands”, said Hague

Falkland Islands lawmakers met on Wednesday morning with Foreign Secretary William Hague and regretted the absence of Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman but also understand Argentina’s deep concern with “our (March) referendum, which is why they spend so much time dismissing it”.

“Sadly, there was an empty chair in the room, as the Argentine Foreign Minister declined to attend. We are disappointed, but hardly surprised. Argentina prefers to disregard our existence, rather than engage constructively with the people who have lived on the Falkland Islands for so many generations”, said Jan Cheek, Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly who attended the meeting at the Foreign Office with MLA Dick Sawle.

MLA Cheek said that Mr. Timerman dismisses the Falkland Islanders as ‘settlers’, and “well we are settlers. Like countries across the continent of the Americas, we came into existence through waves of settlement from Europe and elsewhere. Indeed, we Falkland Islanders settled in our home long before many parts of Argentina were settled by the Argentines and we did not displace or rule over any population because there were no indigenous inhabitants”.

Likewise “Mr Timerman is well aware that it is simply untrue to say that we have fewer political rights than anyone else, or that the United Nations has said that self-determination does not apply to the Falklands, or that UN resolutions preclude Argentina from sitting down with us. Repeating these misrepresentations doesn’t make them any truer, however inconvenient for Argentina”.

MLA Cheek then pointed out that “we know that the Argentine Government is deeply worried about our referendum, which is why they spend so much time dismissing it”, and talk of the Falklands being Argentine in twenty years “makes for good headlines, but smacks of desperation”.

“We are a thriving community, with a growing international voice. We want good neighbourly relations with Argentina; we are willing to talk with them; and we cannot be ignored. Self-determination is a universal right, and we are very grateful to the British government for standing up for our freedom – in contrast to those who would seek to deprive us of it”, concluded MLA Cheek following the meeting.

Foreign Secretary Hague also made a brief statement explaining how delighted he was to have hosted members of the Falklands government in London and said it was a shame that Minister Timerman was unwilling to join.

Hague described the Falkland Islands as a self-governing British Overseas Territory and a thriving democracy with a growing economy, and “through nine generations the people of the Falklands have worked tirelessly to establish their position in the world and their voice deserves to be heard”.

“With this in mind, I welcome their forthcoming referendum in March. This will be a chance for the people of the Falkland Islands to express their views about how they wish to be governed, and in a democratic and incontestable way without other people speaking for them. They have the British Government’s full support.”

Last but not least, “it is of course a shame that the Argentine Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman, was unwilling to join us for a conversation about the Falkland Islands. As I have said before there is no way such a conversation could have taken place without members of the Falkland Islands Government being present, especially given the current Argentine government’s behavior towards the Islanders. It is, and must always be, for them to decide their own future.”