MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
James Cleverly in Chile: Falklands have a right to self determination and to choose their future
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly made a fundamental speech on Latin American policy during his visit to Chile British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, on a political and trade visit to South America, including Colombia, Chile and Brazil, said the Falkland Islands people have the right to self determination recalling that ten years ago Islanders overwhelmingly voted to remain in the British Family.
During a speech this week in Santiago, Cleverly underlined the global relevance of Latin America and UK's interest in reaffirming closer links, insisting on the need for free trade agreements with the region and mentioning that Brazil should become a permanent member of an expanded and reformed UN Security Council.
Foreign Secretary Cleverly also outlined a UK policy for the region and called on all nations to support Ukraine from the Russian invasion. He underlined UK political and arms contribution to Ukraine and Kiev's right to defend itself from Russia based on self determination and democracy.
“And speaking of self determination and democracy, it would be negligent from my part if I did not mention the Falkland Islands,” pointed out Cleverly in his speech.
“People who live in the Falklands, as everybody else in the world have the right to decide their own future in political, cultural, economic and development terms”. He then recalled the 2013 Falklands referendum “when it was plain clear Islanders wished to maintain their current relation with the United Kingdom, and their absolute right to do so. And we will continue to support them”.
Successive Argentine governments have persistently claimed sovereignty rights over the Falklands/Malvinas in international forums.
The Foreign Secretary said that trade and investment of UK in Latin America has been recovering strongly, particularly from a minimum last year, after the pandemic, and that there is a shared strategic focus on issues such as critical minerals, green hydrogen and sustainable infrastructure, which he described as “encouraging”.
“The imminent access of the UK to the TransPacific Association, which includes Mexico, Peru and Chile is a positive indicator, and we hope that very soon Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay, join that organization,” adding that last week UK and Mexico finalized the third round of talks for a Free Trade Agreement.
Finally Cleverly mentioned that the universal values on which rests the international order are increasingly threatened and violated, requiring a prompt, effective and coordinated response, with world multilateral institutions in need of reform, in particular giving a louder voice and influence to Latin America. “We are prepared to see Brazil sitting as permanent member of the UN Security Council”-
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Read all commentsFalklands Free, you miss understand what i am trying to say, every white man on the whole of the American continent are from implanted European stock, whether that is Spanish , French, Italian, German, Portuguese or British, none of them are native to the continent, all those countries are made from stolen land, unlike the Falklands which had no native people, so its the only land that has not been stolen, it was a rebuttle to Trimondes pathetic statement of the Falklands being stolen, it was British it is British and will stay British for as long as necessary,
May 26th, 2023 - 04:05 pm +4Trimonde
May 26th, 2023 - 06:17 pm +3You have posted on here for many years, yet still stick to the same narrative that the Falklands are “Argentine territory”.
Given that Argentina is country derived from the random break-up of the Spanish Empire and than further colonialism of Patagonia, its boundaries are quite clearly derived by whatever “European colonialists could take”.
We are both familiar with events that took place 200 years ago, and you wish to interpret them in a way that says a set of islands deserted by the Spanish, that then housed a failed business by a German entrepreneur for 2 years, automatically belong to a country of other Spanish colonialists who claimed independence, rather than a population of inhabitants that have lived there 180 years.
It is your right to believe your fantasy, it is our right to defend the islanders,
Why is every other Caribbean or Atlantic islands population more than a few miles off the coast allowed to choose their future but not the Falklands.
Why not try to claim Aruba, Jamaica, Barbados, Cuba..your claim is just as valid.
I like your passion Falklands Free, the crazy thing is Argentina was created by conquest of another peoples land , and yet the clowns from Buenos Aires that post on here cant or wont see that,
May 26th, 2023 - 08:09 pm +3Commenting for this story is now closed.
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