MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK representative challenges OAS Assembly to recognize Falklands right to self determination

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro said the final resolution on Malvinas reaffirms “what the organization has historically expressed”

The United Kingdom called on the Organization of American States (OAS) on Friday to “recognize the right to self-determination” of the Falklands/Malvinas islanders who had decided to remain citizens of a British Overseas Territories and members of the British Family, despite Argentina’s sovereignty claims.

UK representative, Michael Tatham, made the presentation during OAS' LII General Assembly, which was held in the Peruvian capital of Lima, and ended on Friday..

He added that they wanted to work “constructively” with Argentina, but this country “must accept that there can be no dialogue on sovereignty unless the people of the Falkland Islands decide they want to.”

The representative of the United Kingdom, who participated in the Assembly of the Organization of American States as an observer state, said that UK and the Falklands “continue to seek a constructive and positive relationship with Argentina”, although he emphasized that in 2013, “the people of the Falklands requested and overwhelmingly voted“ to remain in close association with Britain.

Tatham also stated that the referendum was a “free and fair” process and ”we are talking about the democratic right to self determination of the community that lives on the Islands,” even before Argentina existed as a country.

He noted that addressing Argentine sovereignty claims over the Islands “means that two countries will have to negotiate without the knowledge of the population,” and stressed that “the United Kingdom will not do that.”

Before saying that their self-determination “allows the Islands to determine its economic, political and social development,” he added, “They (Falklands) deserve the same democratic rights we expect for ourselves.”

In response, Argentina’s Foreign Minister, Pablo Tettamanti asserted that the British representative had “repeated the known positions and policies only accepted by United Kingdom, against the call of the international community,” and acknowledged that although it was “correct” that both countries were “working on different issues” they could not advance since they have a “sovereignty dispute” over the South Atlantic archipelago.

Tettamanti stressed that “the United Kingdom continues to insist on ignoring the problem,” before adding that “those who inhabit the Islands are an implanted population, mainly British, occupying territory of a sovereign state which Argentina has been claiming since Spanish colonial times.”

Nevertheless the Argentine ambassador said, “We reiterate once again our full desire to negotiate and talk about this issue and to try to find a peaceful solution.”

However finally the OAS General Assembly approved by acclamation a resolution defending Argentina’s “legitimate rights” over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and supporting a call for a “peaceful and negotiated” solution to the dispute over the archipelago.

Brazil submitted a draft “Declaration on the Question of the Malvinas Islands”, which highlights that this Question is a “subject of lasting interest to the hemisphere” and notes that the UK as an observer at OAS, holds and “reflects the principles and common values shared” with countries of the Americas.

Ambassador Octavio Brandelli also pointed out his satisfaction with the willingness of the Argentine government “to find a peaceful solution to this prolonged controversy”

Peru which hosted the OAS event emphasized its support for the Argentine cause, and indicated it has been a historic policy of the country, underlining that former president Fernando Belaúnde (1980/1985) was instrumental in raising the name of Peru, Argentina and the region overall, for having openly supported diplomatically and militarily Argentina during the 1982 conflict with Britain“.

”All the heads of state and governments of Peru, including the current one, have followed a similar policy line, and this is not going to vary in the future, that is why we support unreservedly this project“, said the Peruvian ambassador Harold Forsyth.

After reading the terms of the resolution, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, confirmed that the resolution reaffirms “what the organization has historically expressed.”

Almagro pointed out to Argentina’s “inalienable territorial rights” over the Malvinas Islands, which is “in keeping with the position of this region” and asserted that the British presence on the Islands implied “a colonial remnant” that was “illegitimate”.

OAS Secretary General concluded: “The Secretariat particularly appreciates the solidarity of the Western Hemisphere with this claim”