As the years pass, Veterans and Islanders alike who were caught up in the Falklands War, are getting older; many, regrettably are no longer with us. Age takes its toll, and sadly a number of potential guests declined due to failing health, reads the message from Lewis Clifton OBE, Chairman of the 2012 Committee.
Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne pledged UK respect for the results of the Falkland Islands referendum to be held next year, and called on all governments who prize democracy and human rights to do likewise.
The Falkland Islands Government announced on Tuesday its intention to hold a referendum next year on the political status of the Falklands to clearly express Islanders views and counter Argentina’s misleading rhetoric including that “we are held hostage by the UK military”.
A group of young Falkland Islanders hope to present Argentine President Cristina Fernandez with a firm message at the UN in New York that they want to remain British subjects and continue their current way of life.
Argentine Defence Minister Arturo Puricelli said on Monday that the United Kingdom maintains its “arrogance and haughtiness” over the Malvinas sovereignty issue as the 30th anniversary of the end of the war approaches.
The UN Special Committee on Decolonisation launched on Monday a new round of sessions with much attention focused on the Falklands/Malvinas dispute since Argentine president Cristina Fernandez next Thursday will become the first head of state to address the C24.
Foreign Office minister for Latin American affairs Jeremy Browne anticipated that next week there will be a “substantial reply” to Argentina’s proposal for three monthly flights between Buenos Aires and the Falklands and the resumption of negotiations over fisheries conservation in the South Atlantic, but in noy way linked to any sovereignty discussions.
Foreign Minister Jeremy Browne begins this Monday a four day visit to the Falkland Islands, the thirtieth anniversary of the conclusion of the South Atlantic conflict and in a brief message pointed out that thirty years after the conflict the Falklands’ people are being forced to defend themselves once more this time from “the policies of coercion and intimidation” by the current Argentine government.
“Telling some of the personal stories behind the events we know so well,” was how Museum Curator Leona Roberts described a fascinating and comprehensive exhibition of Falkland Islands war memorabilia and stories currently on display at St Mary’s Parish Hall in Stanley.
Ahead of a week of intense diplomatic exchanges and on the Day of the Affirmation of the Argentine Rights Over the Malvinas, Islands and Antarctic Sector, the Argentine Government once again ratified its claim over the Islands’ sovereignty and questioned the UK over the “illegal exploitation of their natural resources” and the “increased militarization of the South Atlantic region.”