| |
South Atlantic CouncilPromoting communication and understanding
|
|
Documents on Argentine Politics and the Falklands (Malvinas) QuestionThe Official Position of the Argentine GovernmentConsolidation of two web pages from the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture. One is on “The Question of the Malvinas Islands” – known in the United Nations as “The Falklands (Malvinas) Question”. The other page is on the “History”, covering five periods, starting from the fifteenth century. A Critique of the Official Position of the Argentine GovernmentThe position outlined in the above documents, from the Argentine Foreign Ministry website, is contested by the government of the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands Government. However, the most thorough analysis has come from non-official researchers. See Graham Pascoe and Peter Pepper, “False Falklands History at the United Nations. How Argentina misled the UN in 1964 – and still does”. (This paper has been updated on several occasions. The links below go directly to the current versions.) A Call to Dialogue between UK and Argentina, February 2013The statement was produced by the participants at a meeting of pro-dialogue groups from 18 European Union countries held on 5-7 February 2013, at the Residence of the Argentine Ambassador in London, Alicia Castro. No information is available on who these groups represented nor on who endorsed the statement. The Revolt by Gaucho Rivero in 1833Argentine politicians sometimes portray a revolt of workers in the Falklands, led by Antonio “El Gaucho” Rivero, as a heroic Argentine rebellion against British rule. On the other hand, some Argentine historians portray Rivero as a criminal and point out that the attack was not on the British, but on their Argentine employers. More details are given in the Wikipedia entry. President Cristina Kirchner's address to the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, 14 June 2012Each year the Special Committee holds a separate short debate on the “Falkland Islands (Malvinas)”. In 2012, the debate took place on 14-15 June. However, this was an exceptional event, because – for the first time ever – a head of government, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina, addressed the Committee. The Group of Seventeen Argentine IntellectualsVarious Argentines have gradually realised they share a common dissatisfaction with the standard attitudes in Argentina about the Falklands-Malvinas dispute between the governments of the United Kingdom and Argentina. In particular, journalists and others who visited the Islands were surprised to discover that the Islanders have their own social, cultural and political identity; have been minimally influenced by Latin America and do not share any Argentine identity. In response to the escalating political rhetoric, since President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner started her campaign for diplomatic support for Argentine sovereignty over the Islands, this group decided to open a public debate on the question. A statement challenging the sovereignty claim and asserting the rights of the Islanders was published in the Argentine daily newspaper, La Nación, on 22 February 2012. It was initially signed by a group of seventeen intellectuals, including writers, historians, journalists, lawyers and a former congressional Deputy. Their names are given at the end of the statement.
A second statement objecting to the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the occupation of the Islands by the Argentine military dictatorship on 2 April 1982 was published in La Nación, just before President Cristina Kirchner made a speech in Ushuaia saying that it was “absurd” that Britain maintains sovereignty over islands that are 14,000 km away. The text of the statement was taken from La Nación’s website. This was published by a larger group of 47 people, whose names are also given at the end of the statement.
An Exchange of Diplomatic Statements by Argentina and the United Kingdom in February 2012It is standard practice for governments to assert and publicise diplomatic initiatives and to respond to statements by other governments in the form of letters to the UN Secretary-General. These are then published by the UN, as information relevant to the consideration of an item on the agenda of the General Assembly and/or the Security Council. A document number starting A/... indicates it is being brought to the attention of the Assembly and a number starting S/... indicates it is for the Council. Sometimes documents can be numbered for both the Assembly and the Council. Letter from Argentina, A/66/696-S/2012/86, 10 February 2012This document is in three parts. It alleges a “growing British militarization of the Malvinas Islands”, citing “information” on the dispatch of a nuclear submarine to the South Atlantic; the arrival of Prince William as an army officer on the Islands; and the deployment of a new destroyer (HMS Dauntless) in the area. It also presents the Argentine version of the history of the Islands; and outlines an interpretation of the United Nations' handling of the dispute. There are links, on the United Nations Documents section of this website, to the General Assembly resolutions cited in this document. For the text of document A/66/696-S/2012/86, click here – English Spanish Letter from the United Kingdom, A/66/706, 23 February 2012This document is a reply to A/66/696-S/2012/86 (see above). It provides a detailed argument to deny the charge that the UK has militarised the South Atlantic. It also asserts there should be co operation between Argentina and Britain in the area and outlines ways in which Argentina has withdrawn from the confidence-building measures established in the 1990s. It ends with a brief statement that there can be no negotiations about sovereignty “until such time as the Falkland Islanders so wish”. For the text of document A/66/706, click here – English Spanish Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones InternacionalesA CARI Seminar with a SAC Contribution, August 2013The Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales, (CARI – the Argentine Council on International Relations) held a seminar on “Changes in Global Affairs and their Impact on the Falklands Dispute” on 22 August 2013. The South Atlantic Council Honorary Secretary, Robin Wallis, attended and gave his presentation in Spanish. CARI has published the programme, the list of participants and some of the presentations, in Spanish, on its website at www.cari.org.ar/recursos/seminario_malvinas22-08-13.html. The SAC has published, in English, Robin Wallis's presentation, with the programme and the list of participants as appendices Background on CARIThe SAC has collaborated with CARI on a variety of occasions. However, they are not directly equivalent to each other. CARI addresses a very diverse range of foreign policy questions, whereas the SAC is a specialist body. For more information about CARI, see their brochure in English – PDF download Selections from the SAC Comments PagesThe Asociación Civil Amigos Malvinas/Falklands (ACAMF)
|
|
Copyright South Atlantic Council, 2014. Any text on this website may be freely used provided that (a) it is for non-commercial purposes, (b) quotations are accurate and (c) the South Atlantic Council and the website address - www.staff.city.ac.uk/p.willetts/SAC/INDEX.HTM - are cited. This website is intended to contribute to this process of promoting communication and understanding. None of the web pages, except the Home Page and the About Us pages, are endorsed by the South Atlantic Council. All views expressed, including those in the SAC Occasional Papers, are those of the individual authors. Similarly, the publication of documents does not imply that any of their contents are endorsed by the Council. Page maintained by Peter Willetts [P dot Willetts at city dot ac dot uk]
Page created on 28 Nov 2013.
|