Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina santiago cafiero came in this morning NY before the UN Special Committee on Decolonization new claims to Britain so they can continue bilateral negotiations with our country and find peace and final solution about the dispute sovereignty in the Falkland Islands.

He did so within the framework of a session dedicated to discussing the Malvinas Question and accompanied by a delegation which included, apart from officials, various representatives of the opposition. “So far, the Argentine government have not received a good response to the proposal submitted”, emphasized Cafiero.

After the intervention of Argentinian petitioners Clara Vernet and Mercedes Moyano Walker, Cafiero was blunt when disclosing: “On the 2nd of March I proposed Secretary James Cleverly (NdR: British Foreign Secretary) new bilateral agenda in the South Atlantic to fulfill the mandate of the relevant General Assembly resolutions. To achieve this goal, I propose to the British Government establishment of a formal, transparent and good faith negotiation processperiodic, where issues of common interest will be discussed, among others, the resumption of negotiations on sovereignty, the connectivity of the islands with the Argentine continent, practical steps that tend to guarantee the interests and ways of life of the islanders, conservation of natural resources and demilitarization disputed territory”.

“Recently the UK is leading its disproportionate and unjustified military presence in the South Atlantic to a new level with the deployment of a contingent called “Kosovo Security Forces”, said Argentina’s top diplomatic representative. In addition, he stressed the importance of “continuing the humanitarian task of identifying ex-combatants, within the framework of the obligations arising from International Humanitarian Law and to provide answers and comfort to families.”

“Argentine’s commitment to restoring the exercise of its sovereignty by peaceful means, respecting the way of life of the Islanders, is enshrined in its National Constitution. On the other hand, Britain today is behaving as if the dispute did not exist and intends to advance a policy of fait accompli in the South Atlantic,” said Cafiero.

Argentina’s foreign minister also condemned another decision taken by the British government regarding Malvinas. British colonial government unilaterally granted fishing licenses in the area around the Falkland Islands and in 2021 announced it would extend those unilateral licenses for another 25 years starting in 2031, which makes it impossible to maintain a bilateral cooperation scheme in terms of conservation of fishery resources. Likewise, the UK is moving forward with its plans to move forward with the exploration and exploitation of unauthorized hydrocarbon resources in the disputed area,” he said.

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24) adopted by consensus a new resolution repeating, as every year since 1983, calls for the United Kingdom and Argentina to resume negotiations to find a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute over Malvinas, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands , and the surrounding maritime area.

The resolution was co-sponsored by all the Latin American countries that were members of the Special Committee: Chile, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Likewise, within the framework of the session, the delegations of China, Indonesia, Syria, Russia, Antigua and Barbuda, Timor Leste and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, members of C 24, also intervened to support the resumption of sovereignty negotiations.

The Special Committee on Decolonization was established in 1961 as an auxiliary body of the United Nations General Assembly and had the function of ensuring the implementation of resolution 1514 (XV) of the United Nations General Assembly and within this framework annually reviewing the situation of colonial groups still awaiting decolonization, adopting resolutions that made progress toward the end of colonialism possible. There are still 17 colonial situations pending resolution which are being handled by the Committee. Of this total, 11 situations involved the United Kingdom, including the Malvinas Islands Issue.

C24 currently has 29 member countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Chile, China, Congo, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, the Syrian Arab Republic, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Tanzania and Venezuela.

The head of Argentine diplomacy on that occasion was accompanied by the Governor of the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands, Gustavo Melella; Senators Pablo Daniel Blanco (UCR) and María Eugenia Duré (Front of All); and deputy Alberto Asseff (PRO); Rosana Andrea Bertone (Front of All); Graciela Camaño (Buenaerense Identity); Mabel Caparrós (Ahead of All); Julio Cobos (UCR); Eduardo Valdés (Front All) and Carolina Yutrovic (Front All). Also present were Argentina’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, María del Carmen Squeff; Malvinas secretary, Antarctica and South Atlantic, Guillermo Carmona; the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luciana Tito; and National Director for the Malvinas and South Atlantic Islands, Sandra Pitta.

In the afternoon, Cafiero will have a meeting with the Portuguese Antonio Gutérres, Secretary General of the United Nations.

keep reading