British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that Britain “will protect” the people of the Falkland Islands from the “intimidation and threats” of Argentina, which claims sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago
The head of Argentina’s Lower House, Julián Domínguez, assured on Sunday that the referendum being carried out in the Falklands/Malvinas Islands is “another move by the English empire to continue justifying the illegal usurpation of land”.
The South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) announced a new program: the South Atlantic Information Management System and GIS Centre, which officially brings together the UK South Atlantic Overseas Territories in SAERI’s South Atlantic scope that ranges from the equator down to the ice. The Centre is funded by the FCO via the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Uruguay Minister of Defence Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro described as an “enormous shame” for the country the fact that two lawmakers from the leading opposition National party travelled to the Falklands/Malvinas to participate as observers of the Sunday/Monday referendum on the Islands political status and future.
Described as ‘fantastic’ despite the bad weather over 300 vehicles plus motorbikes, quads, old tractors and horse riders flying Falklands flags and Union Jacks turned out on Sunday in Stanley for a march along the sea front and the Liberation Monument in support of the two-day referendum on the Islands future.
By Corina Goss (*) - Britain is hoping this weekend's referendum on the political status of the Falkland Islands will push the United States and other neutral governments off the fence in its territorial dispute with Argentina over the remote South Atlantic archipelago.
The Argentine ruling coalition and opposition lawmakers have coordinated efforts to convene an extraordinary session of the Senate to draw up a unanimous rejection of the referendum taking place Sunday and Monday in the Falkland Islands
Only 15% of Argentines think Falkland Islanders should have a say in their own future, and a quarter still believe that the islands will one day be governed from Buenos Aires, but in the UK, 88% of British people said the Islanders should have a say on who ruled them.
By Sir Peter Westmacott (*) - Where in the world can you celebrate Margaret Thatcher Day with five kinds of wild penguins? Nowhere but in the Falkland Islands, a windswept archipelago in the South Atlantic that’s about the same area as Connecticut but has a population of only 3.100. This weekend, these small islands with a big personality face a momentous choice: a referendum to decide their political future.
In recognition of International Women's Day on 8 March the British Armed Forces profiled Group Captain Sara Mackmin who is the new commander of the RAF Search and Rescue Force with responsibility over the UK and the Falkland Islands.