MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK interest in the Malvinas is '100% economic', claims Argentine official

Daniel Filmus argues that without support from the continent, looking for oil offshore Malvinas won't be easy

Britain's interest in the Malvinas Islands is “100% economic” and if hydrocarbons exploration in the waters surrounding the archipelago advances “we could be facing a major ecologic disaster”, said Daniel Filmus, head of the Argentine Foreign Ministry Malvinas Affairs Secretariat.

 Filmus also linked the absence of top league oil companies in the Falklands offshore exploration to the fact there is no support from the continent: “there is no way to address a serious problem in the Islands” unless there is a fluid connection with South American countries.

And “let's not forget what happened in the Gulf of Mexico with British Petroleum”, and a similar situation could only be overcome with logistics support from the continent.

Filmus added that even British public opinion is concerned about the slow advance in the exploration for oil and gas offshore the Malvinas since “the timetable for drilling and pumping oil has been now moved to 2019”. This only comes to confirm what many people argue which is “that the alleged commitments to explore and produce are just stock exchange speculations to make quick money”.

The Argentine official also recalled the measures undertaken by Argentina to avoid depredation of the South Atlantic resources which are geared to dissuade investments, “since if they do invest in the Malvinas without Argentine authorization, they will be barred from other more certain undertakings such as shale oil and gas in Vaca Muerta” in the Patagonian province of Neuquén.

”Besides corporate leaders are well aware we will demand them in a criminal court if their companies are involved in looking for hydrocarbons in the Argentine Sea (South Atlantic)“.

Contrary to the UK, Filmus denied that Argentina's interest in the Malvinas Islands was economic: ”let's imagine the Islands had no economic interest, Argentina would nevertheless defend its sovereignty because they are part of our country and they have been stolen from us“.

Finally, the UK have a geopolitical interest in keeping hold of the colonial enclave in Malvinas because it ensures ”the empire a bi-oceanic corridor that opens the door to dispute Antarctica sovereignty from South American countries, such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay”.