MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands: Argentina's call for dialogue and cooperation “rings hollow”

The Argentine government refuses to acknowledge the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future, said MP Rosindell

Argentina’s call for dialogue with UK rings hollow, Romford MP Andrew Rosindell argued in a letter published in The Times in which he said that Argentine claims that the UK is increasing its military presence in the Falklands are false. Instead he argued that the presence there is the minimum necessary to defend the Islands.

 MP Rosindell's letter came in response to the Argentine Ambassador Alicia Castro suggestions, also in a letter to the Times last month, that the UK is militarizing the South Atlantic and that Argentina would like to co-operate on issues of mutual interest on the Falklands. This he said does not stand up to scrutiny.

MP Rosindell is Secretary of the Falklands All-Party Parliamentary Group and a strong supporter of Gibraltar.

“Argentine claims that we are increasing our military presence in the Falklands are false. UK forces are deployed to defend the freedom of the Falkland Islanders following the Argentine invasion of 1982. The numbers are not increasing. They represent the minimum necessary to defend the Islands,” he said.

Ambassador Castro made a plea for peaceful dialogue, but, said MP Rosindell, the Argentine government refuses to acknowledge the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future.

“Earlier this year, 99.8% of Falkland Islanders voted to retain their status as a British Overseas Territory. Although we and the Falkland Islands Government wish for a friendly relationship with Argentina, over the past decade Argentina has refused to discuss issues of mutual co-operation, including on flights and fisheries.

”Argentine calls for a dialogue ring hollow when their Foreign Minister refuses an invitation to meet the Foreign Secretary and representatives of the Falkland Islands Government, as happened in February this year,” he said.

MP Rosindell said that if the Argentine Government is genuinely keen to promote air links between the continent and the Islands as Ambassador Castro says, reconsidering its ban on Falklands-bound charter flights through its airspace would be a welcome indication of this change of heart.

Meanwhile Sukey Cameron, the London based representative of the Falkland Islands Government, also had a letter published in The Times which set out to clarify that the Falklands are open to a neighborly relationship with Argentina and that in recent times have extended several invitations to the Government of Argentina to enter into discussions on matters of mutual interest, such as co-operation in the fishing industry and hydrocarbons exploration.

“These invitations have, unfortunately, gone unanswered. Regarding economic activity with the wider South American continent, we are pleased to report healthy working relationships with several countries in the Southern Cone and hope that these continue to develop,” she said.