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Falklands elected government rejects point blank Argentina's threatening and bullying tactics

Monday, August 10th 2020 - 18:03 UTC
Full article 28 comments
 Gilbert House, seat of the democratically elected government of the Falkland Islands Gilbert House, seat of the democratically elected government of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands elected Government on Monday publicly expressed its disappointment with the Argentine government regarding its determined intent to escalate their sovereignty claim over the Islands and continue harassing the people of the Falklands. In response to that attitude Gilbert House, seat of the government elected by the people of the Falklands, in democratic elections, has made the following release:

“As countries around the world continue to battle with the devastating and multiple impacts of COVID-19, it is absolutely right that every global government firmly turns their focus towards protecting their people and bringing the virus under control. It is therefore disappointing to read of the Government of Argentina's plans to use this particular point in time to announce their intent to escalate their claim over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, with a new 'road map' focused on three objectives, all of which aim to coerce, threaten and apply legal pressure to those who continue work together with our nation and who respect our right to self-determination.

 In June 2020, our elected representatives had intended to travel to the United Nations C24 Committee, to once again make our case to remain a self-governing and freely democratic society, however the pandemic necessarily meant that these physical meetings were cancelled. We participate in this important platform both to champion our fundamental human right to self-determination, as ratified by the Charter of the United Nations, as well as to rebut any erroneous claims about our sovereignty, which come from a place of colonial ambition and which the C24 actively seeks to address.

 MLA Barry Elsby, Deputy Leader of the Legislative Assembly, said: ”We are a country which continues to build friendships with those who know how truly special our nation is and who appreciate that the right of our community to choose their own future is an undeniable and irrefutable truth. We continue to make our case on the international stage because there are so many falsehoods perpetuated by those who base their opinion on rhetoric and debunked assertions, without any reference to the people who have made the Falkland Islands what it is over many centuries. Despite not having the opportunity to contribute to C24 this year, our convictions stand firm, and in light of the recent assertions made by Argentina, we choose not to engage with these directly at a time when we believe that all efforts should be focused on saving lives and not on scoring political points. We continue to express our solidarity to countries who are experiencing the devastation of COVID-19 and have already sought to contribute to recovery efforts in Chile and Uruguay.”

Top Comments

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  • border rover

    gamakin
    It's hardly surprising that there is “anti Argentine sentiment” , it's only a few years ago that Argentina launched its inept but very damaging military assault on the islands. How could there not be anti- Argentine sentiments ? In an ideal world it would make really good sense for the Islanders to have close relations with Argentina with joint programmes of development of fishing and off shore
    oil reserves. We are not however in an ideal world, rather there is one partner with an enviable record of democratic government, a strong economy and a very sound work ethic. The other partner, unfortunately, has a long record of inept government failure to honour a variety of international agreements, a crude attempt to occupy, by force, the other partner's lands and a record of cheating and corruption at almost every level of its society . Not a good basis for joint ventures.

    Aug 11th, 2020 - 12:22 pm +5
  • Judge Jose

    No matter how much bullying and intimidation Argentina does nothing will change,,the Falklands belong to the people who live there , the matter was settled permanently in 1982,

    Aug 10th, 2020 - 10:14 pm +3
  • Roger Lorton

    BH - a) you are not my friend, b) The islanders do not 'have to' negotiate anything and c) the size of your population is irrelevant, other than your economy is likely to be worse than now, if such is actually possible.

    Aug 12th, 2020 - 11:17 am +3
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