Falkland Islanders vote Yes in referendum to remain part of Britain

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The Falkland Islands has a population of around 3,000 people

 

UK prime minister rebuffs Argentina over Falklands

 

Downing Street has strongly rebuffed a call by Argentina's president for the UK to return the Falkland Islands.

 

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had urged UK Prime Minister David Cameron to abide by a 1965 UN resolution to "negotiate a solution" to the dispute.

 

But a spokesman for Mr Cameron said the people of the Falklands had shown "a clear desire to remain British" and their interests would be protected.

 

A referendum on the islands' political status is to be held in March.

 

In an open letter to Mr Cameron, published as an advert in the Guardian newspaper and the Independent, President Fernandez repeats calls for the islands - which are known as the Malvinas in Argentina - to come under the sovereignty of her nation.

 

President Fernandez called for "territorial integrity" to be restored

 

The Argentine president says the islands were forcibly stripped from Argentina in "a blatant exercise of 19th Century colonialism".

 

Downing Street said the prime minister would "do everything to protect the interests of the Falklands islanders."

 

Mr Cameron's spokesman said the people of the Falklands had shown "a clear desire to remain British" and the Argentine government should respect their right to self determination.

 

The spokesman also urged the Argentine government to abide by the outcome of the referendum.

 

'Diplomatic stand off'

 

And, in a statement issued earlier, a spokesman for the Falklands Islands government said: "We are not a colony - our relationship with the United Kingdom is by choice.

 

"Unlike the government of Argentina, the United Kingdom respects the right of our people to determine our own affairs, a right that is enshrined in the UN Charter and which is ignored by Argentina."

 

Last year marked 30 years since the Falklands War, when the islands were occupied by Argentine forces for 74 days.

 

The BBC's Norman Smith says the prime minister had been clear that the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future would not be compromised.

 

He said Downing Street wants the Argentine government to respect and abide by the outcome of the upcoming referendum.

 

Our correspondent said there was now a "diplomatic stand off" because Argentina's view is that the referendum is illegitimate and will have no bearing on their claim because they see the islanders as occupiers, rather than residents.

 

Ms Fernandez says her letter is published on the same date - 3 January - when, 180 years ago: "Argentina was forcibly stripped of the Malvinas Islands, which are situated 14,000 km (8,700 miles) away from London".

 

She goes on: "The Argentines on the Islands were expelled by the Royal Navy and the United Kingdom subsequently began a population implantation process similar to that applied to other territories under colonial rule.

 

"Since then, Britain, the colonial power, has refused to return the territories to the Argentine Republic, thus preventing it from restoring its territorial integrity."

 

In her final paragraph, she ends: "In the name of the Argentine people, I reiterate our invitation for us to abide by the resolutions of the United Nations."

 

Argentina says it inherited ownership of the islands from Spain, arguing that British colonists occupied the islands by force in 1833 and expelled settlers, violating Argentina's territorial integrity.

 

'Forcibly stripped'

 

It also bases its claim on the islands' proximity to the South American mainland. The islands' capital, Port Stanley, lies about 1,180 miles (1,898km) from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.

 

The historical account provided by Ms Fernandez differs from the one provided by the Foreign Office on its website.

 

Whereas Argentina's president says her country was "forcibly stripped" of control in 1833, the Foreign Office site says an interim governor appointed by ministers in Buenos Aires was murdered by his own men and a British warship subsequently "told" his 24-man garrison to leave.

 

British administration, which dated back to 1765, was then resumed, says the FO.

 

Its website also refers to the 1965 UN resolution which, it says, "invited the British and Argentine governments to begin negotiations 'with a view to finding a peaceful solution to the problem, bearing in mind the provisions and objectives of the UN Charter and... the interests of the population of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).'"

 

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said that the Falkland Islanders "are British and have chosen to be so".

 

"They remain free to choose their own futures, both politically and economically, and have a right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter," she added.

 

"This is a fundamental human right for all peoples.

 

"There are three parties to this debate, not just two as Argentina likes to pretend.

 

"The islanders can't just be written out of history."

 

In June, the prime minister confronted President Fernandez about the issue when they came face-to-face at the G20 summit.

 

During the exchange, the prime minister rejected her demand for negotiations over the sovereignty of the islands and told her that she should respect the result of a referendum .

 

The Argentine president had earlier raised her demands at the United Nations, appearing at the annual meeting of the UN decolonisation committee on the 30th anniversary of the end of Argentine occupation.

 

She used the occasion to reiterate Argentina's opposition to any more wars and to criticise the prime minister's decision to mark the day by flying the Falklands flag over 10 Downing Street.

 

In December, Argentina protested at Britain's decision to name part of Antarctica, Queen Elizabeth Land. A formal protest note was given to the British ambassador, John Freeman, in Buenos Aires.

 

The area, which makes up around a third of the British Antarctic Territory, is also claimed by the South American country.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20897675

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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

 

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's letter to David Cameron

 

Read the letter about the Falkland Islands from the Argentinian president to the British prime minster

 

Buenos Aires, January 3rd, 2013

 

Mr Prime Minister David Cameron,

 

One hundred and eighty years ago on the same date, January 3rd, in a blatant exercise of 19th-century colonialism, Argentina was forcibly stripped of the Malvinas Islands, which are situated 14,000km (8700 miles) away from London.

 

The Argentines on the Islands were expelled by the Royal Navy and the United Kingdom subsequently began a population implantation process similar to that applied to other territories under colonial rule.

 

Since then, Britain, the colonial power, has refused to return the territories to the Argentine Republic, thus preventing it from restoring its territorial integrity.

 

The Question of the Malvinas Islands is also a cause embraced by Latin America and by a vast majority of peoples and governments around the world that reject colonialism.

 

In 1960, the United Nations proclaimed the necessity of "bringing to an end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations". In 1965, the General Assembly adopted, with no votes against (not even by the United Kingdom), a resolution considering the Malvinas Islands a colonial case and inviting the two countries to negotiate a solution to the sovereignty dispute between them.

 

This was followed by many other resolutions to that effect.

 

In the name of the Argentine people, I reiterate our invitation for us to abide by the resolutions of the United Nations.

 

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

President of the Argentine Republic

 

Cc: Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/02/cristina-fernandez-kirchner-letter-cameron

[Black Rose]

Poor Argentina

 

If we return it to them, will they return all the other land they forcibly stripped of other nations?

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Falkland Islands are British, The Sun tells Argentina in open letter

 

 

HANDS OFF! Falkland Islands are British, The Sun tells Argentina in open letter

 

The Sun newspaper has taken out an advert in an English-language paper in Argentina defending Britain's right to govern the Falkland Islands.

 

The advert is a response to an open letter from the Argentine president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, which was printed in two British papers.

 

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted the islanders must decide their own future. Argentina invaded the islands in 1982 but was driven out by British forces. A referendum on the islands' political status is to be held in March.

 

On Thursday, President Fernandez published an open letter to Mr Cameron, in the Guardian newspaper and the Independent, repeating calls for the islands - which are known as the Malvinas in Argentina - to come under the sovereignty of her nation.

 

She urged Mr Cameron to abide by a 1965 UN resolution to "negotiate a solution" to the dispute. But The Sun responded by taking out an advert in the Buenos Aires Herald - an English-language paper with a circulation of around 20,000 - telling Argentina to keep its "hands off".

 

The advert refers to the 649 Argentines and 255 British servicemen whose lives were lost in the 1982 war and said it was a conflict fought to defend the principle of self-determination. The ad goes on to dispute Argentina's claim to the islands and points out British sovereignty dates back to 1765. It ends with the words: "Until the people of the Falkland Islands choose to become Argentinian, they remain resolutely British."

 

But the journalist Daniel Schweimler, who lives in Argentina, said the Sun's message would not go down well. Mr Schweimler, who is based in Buenos Aires, said: "I've been here seven years now, and have never come across an Argentine who doesn't believe that the Falklands belong to Argentina.

 

"There's never been any animosity towards me when I say I'm British, but I think it's fair to say that almost across the board in a country of 40 million people that Las Malvinas, the Falklands, belong to them," he added.

 

Argentine journalist Celina Andreassi agreed and says the Sun's advert was quite provocative.

 

Asked on BBC Radio 5 live what the reaction would be in Argentina, she said: "Probably anger, people will wonder what has The Sun got to do with it, but again the arguments The Sun puts forward are the arguments the British have generally put forward; the arguments our press put forward are the same as always - basically there's really nothing new."

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20907312

[James.]

I'm torn on this one. Part of me thinks it's stupid that we still own a set of islands thousands of miles away, but another part of me thinks that if the inhabitants of the Falklands want to be British then they should be.

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Royal Marines raise the Union Flag on the Falkland Islands in 1982 and (right) Argentina's foreign minister Hector Timerman and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

 

'No such thing as Falkland islanders', says Argentine foreign minister

 

There is no such thing as Falkland islanders, the Argentine foreign minister has insisted, claiming they are British citizens living in disputed islands.

 

Hector Timerman claimed the United Nations only acknowledges two parties in the territorial disputet - the UK and Argentina.

 

Speaking at a press conference in central London today, Mr Timerman said: "The Falklands islanders do not exist. What exists is British citizens who live in the Islas Malvinas.

 

"The United Nations does not recognise a third party in the conflict. It says there are just two parts - the UK and Argentina."

 

Argentine diplomats organised a conference of activitists based in Europe to plan future acts of agitation over the islands. Mr Timerman said that "everybody" in Argentina still felt the "effects of the 1833 invasion" of the south Atlantic.

 

Mr Timerman lashed out as his British counterpart William Hague for scuppering a proposed meeting at the Foreign Office by insisting representatives of the Islands residents attend.

 

Jan Cheek, one of two members of the Falkland Islands assembly, met with Mr Hague and expressed disappointment Mr Timerman was not there to hear the views of the Islanders first hand.

 

"Sadly, there was an empty chair in the room, as the Argentine Foreign Minister declined to attend," she said. "We are disappointed, but hardly surprised. Argentina prefers to disregard our existence, rather than engage constructively with the people who have lived on the Falkland Islands for so many generations."

 

His latest comments come a day after he told MPs that Buenos Aires would not recognise the result of a referendum of the islanders next month on whether they wish to remain part of the British overseas territories.

 

He also said that the islands would be under Argentine control within 20 years, while denouncing the British as "fanatics" and comparing the British claim to Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

 

“I don’t think it will take another 20 years. I think that the world is going through a process of understanding more and more that this is a colonial issue, an issue of colonialism,” he said.

 

“We don’t support the occupation of foreign lands, and the Malvinas case is the occupation of a foreign land.”

 

The Falklands Islands parliament has written to Mr Timerman warning him "no amount of harassment and intimidation" would change their minds that they do not want to be ruled from Buenos Aires.

 

Argentina claims sovereignty over the archipelago and its forces invaded the territory in 1982 before UK troops retook it after a war that claimed the lives of 255 British military personnel, three islanders and 649 Argentinians.

 

Argentine president Cristina Kirchner has in recent years strongly asserted her country’s demands for the Falklands to come under its sovereignty despite the opposition of the islanders.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9852717/No-such-thing-as-Falkland-islanders-says-Argentine-foreign-minister.html

[Black Rose]

We don’t support the occupation of foreign lands

 

So, when are you going to hand over parts of Argentina back?

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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npIOwCipaSQ]Falkland Islands- Referendum due over territory - YouTube[/ame]

 

Falkland Islanders prepare for historic referendum

 

Voters in the Falkland Islands will hold a referendum on their future on Sunday.

 

It is 31 years since Britain and Argentina went to war over the archipelago in the South Atlantic, but tensions between London and Buenos Aires remain high.

 

Just 1,649 Falklands-born and long-term residents are registered to vote in the two-day referendum starting on Sunday.

 

They will be asked whether they want to remain a British overseas territory.

 

Dick Sawle, a member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly, told The Telegraph: "I hope that any country that's founded on modern democratic principles will respect our right to determine our own future and political status."

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Falkland Islanders vote Yes in referendum to remain part of Britain

 

The people of the Falklands have delivered one of the most emphatic votes in recent history when 99.8 per cent of those taking part in a referendum on the future of the islands said yes to remaining a British overseas territory.

 

Just three people responded with the answer “No” to the question: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?” A total of 1513 answered in the affirmative.

 

In truth, the outcome of the poll was never in doubt, but the size of the Yes vote, combined with a turnout of 92 per cent, provoked gasps and cries of “Listen to us!” from the crowd gathered inside Port Stanley town hall.

 

Outside, under the arch made of giant whale bones that is one of Stanley’s landmarks, a crowd sang “God Save the Queen” and Rod Stewart’s “I am Sailing”.

 

“I expected a big turnout but the strength of this vote leaves the world in no doubt about the wishes of the people of the Falkland Islands,” said Jan Cheek, a member of the islands’ eight-strong Legislative Assembly.

 

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, welcomed the result, and in a comment aimed at Argentina, which invaded the islands in 1982, asked all nations to respect the islanders’ wishes.

 

“We have always been clear that we believe in the rights of the Falklands people to determine their own futures,” he said. “It is only right that, in the 21st Century, these rights are respected. All countries should accept the results of this referendum and support the Falkland islanders as they continue to develop their home and economy. I wish them every success.”

 

The result was a vindication for David Cameron, who backed the referendum as a tangible expression of the islanders’ right to self-determination, and a snub to Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, president of Argentina, who had called it irrelevant and the product of an “implanted population”.

 

The Falklands, subject of a bloody war between Britain and Argentina between April and June 1982, have been propelled back into prominence by Kirchner.

 

She maintains that their inhabitants have no voice in negotiations over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago. She has used the issue to distract her countrymen from economic woes that include one of the world’s highest rates of inflation, but the policy appears to have backfired. The referendum attracted independent electoral observers from, among other countries, Uruguay, Chile and Mexico, frustrating Argentina’s attempt to portray the islanders as an internationally isolated people, shunned by Latin America.

 

Alicia Castro, Argentina’s ambassador to Britain, continued yesterday to push her government’s line that referendum lacked validity but at least conceded the islanders’ existence.

 

“We respect their way of life, their identity,” she said. “We respect that they want to continue being British, but the territory they inhabit is not British.”

 

Kirchner’s obdurate handling of the referendum issue was summed up by the Argentinian columnist Andres Oppenheimer. Writing in the Miami Herald, he said: “Argentina’s latest offensive against the islanders may go down in history as a text-book example of diplomatic incompetence.”

 

The two-day referendum was largely inspired by increased Argentine pressure on the islanders. There are some 2,900 people living on the Falklands, including communities from Chile and St Helena, but the right to vote in the referendum resided with those granted residency rights.

 

The referendum had a character all of its own, with four-wheel drive vehicles acting as mobile polling stations for remote farming communities.

 

An Islander turboprop acted as an airborne polling station, visiting settlements on West Falkland and offshore islands. Of 1649 islanders eligible to vote, 1518 did so, one ballot paper being spoilt.

 

Brad Smith, the American leader of the observers, said: “The Falkland Islands referendum process was free and fair, reflecting the democratic will of the voters of the Falkland Islands.”

 

The islanders sought to capitalise immediately on the outcome by announcing that two members of the Legislative Assembly would travel to Washington to deliver the result of the vote to the US Congress. America has sat on the fence in regard to the Falklands dispute, recognising de facto British administration but refusing to take sides on sovereignty.

 

“Self-determination is what the United States was founded on and it is a fundamental right,” said Dick Sawle, a member of the Legislative Assembly.

 

“It’s a right that they recognise, so I hope they would listen to what’s happening here today.”

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9923801/Falkland-Islanders-vote-Yes-in-referendum-to-remain-part-of-Britain.html

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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB7AVWLmOpg]Falklands referendum result welcomed by David Cameron - YouTube[/ame]

 

David Cameron: Argentina must respect the wishes of the Falkland Islanders

 

David Cameron has said that Argentina must now respect the wishes of the people of the Falkland Islands after they voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory.

 

The Prime Minister said that Argentina must take “careful note” of the referendum result and reiterated that Britain will "always be there to defend" the Falkland Islanders.

 

In a clear warning to Argentina, Mr Cameron said that the Falkland islanders “couldn’t have spoken more clearly”. “They want to remain British and that view should be respected by everybody, including by Argentina," the Prime Minister said.

 

Of the1,517 votes cast during the two-day referendum, 1,513 were in favour, while just three votes were against. Turnout in the vote was 92 per cent.

 

The referendum follows growing pressure from Argentina over its claims to the islands 31 years after the Falklands war. Mr Cameron added: "The Falkland Islands may be thousands of miles away but they are British through and through and that is how they want to stay. People should know we will always be there to defend them.

 

"We believe in self-determination. The Falkland Islanders have spoken so clearly about their future and now other countries right across the world, I hope, will respect and revere this very, very clear result."

 

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, welcomed the outcome, saying it "demonstrates more clearly than ever" the islanders wish to remain as an overseas territory. Argentina maintained that the vote was illegal and "pointless", and that islanders - an "implanted people" - have no voice in a dispute that must be settled bilaterally.

 

But the near-unanimous result of the referendum clearly reinforced the islanders deep feelings that they are British and want to remain a self-governing overseas territory. Nigel Haywood, governor of the Falkland Islands, said the referendum was a "massive demonstration of the way the Falkland Islanders feel and of the way they see their future".

 

"Obviously it is a major principle of the United Nations that a people have their right to self-determination, and you don't get a much clearer expression of the people's self-determination than such a large turn out and such a large yes vote," he said.

 

Mr Hague said: "I welcome today's result, which demonstrates more clearly than ever the Falkland Islanders' wish to remain an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. We have always been clear that we believe in the rights of the Falklands people to determine their own futures and to decide on the path they wish to take. It is only right that, in the 21st century, these rights are respected. All countries should accept the results of this referendum and support the Falkland Islanders as they continue to develop their home and their economy. I wish them every success in doing so."

 

Dick Sawle, a member of the Legislative Assembly - the Falkland Islands government - who was at the count in Port Stanley, called the result "absolutely fantastic". The vote will "send out the strongest possible message to the rest of the world about our right to self-determination, a right which was fought for in 1982 and which we've honoured tonight," he told the BBC.

 

"What it means is that the people here have expressed their will, their wishes, it means they have expressed their opinion on what they want for the political status of the Falkland Islands. And that of course means that our right to self-determination has been enshrined for the future, it means that at any time in the future we can exercise that right to change the status quo if we wish to do so. But people here have very, very clearly said they wish to remain as a British Overseas Territory with those rights. The British government is 100 per cent behind us and it will be our job now as a government to get that message out to the rest of the world and every country that will listen to us."

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9923974/David-Cameron-Argentina-must-respect-the-wishes-of-the-Falkland-Islanders.html

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The Falklands referendum has humiliated Cristina Kirchner’s bullying, delusional regime

 

A bad day for Cristina Kirchner and her sinking presidency

 

The Falklands referendum has humiliated Cristina Kirchner’s bullying, delusional regime

 

Today is a proud day for the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands, who have emphatically voted to remain a British Overseas Territory. As the BBC reports:

Of 1,517 votes cast in the two-day referendum, 1,513 were in favour of keeping the current status, while just three votes were against. There was a turnout of more than 90% from 1,672 British citizens eligible to vote in a population of about 2,900…. Dick Sawle, a member of the island's legislative assembly, said: "To get a 99% result on the 'yes' vote, with only three voting 'no', I think is an absolutely phenomenal result which will send out the strongest possible message to the rest of the world about our right to self-determination – a right that was fought for in 1982, and which we have honoured tonight."

Just last month, Argentina’s foreign minister Hector Timerman declared that the Falkland Islanders “do not exist”. Well they do exist, and clearly do not wish to live under the boot of Argentina. Many of the Falklands’ 3,000 inhabitants have lived under Argentine occupation, and have no desire to do so again. Argentina’s increasingly unpopular government, desperate to whip up nationalist sentiment against a backdrop of Socialist-driven economic decay, will attempt to dismiss the referendum as an irrelevance. But there can be no doubt that the huge vote in favour of the status quo on the Falkland Islands will make Kirchner’s campaign to turn the Falklands into “las Islas Malvinas” even more futile. It will make it harder for Mrs. Kirchner to stomp around the United Nations calling for negotiations over the sovereignty of the Islands, when barely any of its inhabitants share her views. The Falklands referendum result will only further reinforce the image of Cristina Kirchner as a desperate figure who lives in her own parallel universe, destined to become a laughing stock even among her own Latin American neighbours, who will only grow more and more weary of her Falklands obsession.

 

This week's Falklands vote is a victory for the principle of self-determination, and a powerful rebuke to those who wish to suppress it. The Kirchner regime can rage all it likes, but it has no prospect of seizing the Falklands. For as long as its inhabitants wish to remain under the protection of the Crown, Britain will defend them, and stand up to Argentina’s threats and intimidation.

 

Argentina’s government claims the Falklands will be theirs within 20 years. This is the language of delusion, and the stuff of pure fantasy, the pathetic ranting of a failed presidency, which cares little for the prosperity of its own people, and nothing at all for the freedom and liberty of the Falkland Islanders. There is of course no room for complacency on the part of the British government, which must maintain a robust military presence in the South Atlantic. But it is hard to escape the conclusion that the feisty inhabitants of the Falklands have succeeded, through the ballot box, in humiliating the bully of Buenos Aires and her decrepit regime.

 

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100206420/the-falkland-islands-have-humiliated-cristina-kirchners-bullying-delusional-regime/

[Cyan Kat]

I think that The Falkland Islands should become their own county and then this whole fight will be over, plus they can decide their own laws etc, though I'm aware that this will take some time.

[Navegador]

Only three people voted against british rule. SURPRISE SURPRISE

[fcam]

I'm not willing to take sides here, but it is obvious that the islanders want to remain british, THEY ARE BRITISH! :dozey:

 

And yes, we know that the Argentine President is a total bitch, and I know there is no way for her to get the islands, but I strongly believe that she is not willing to take any military action. It really disturbes me the fact that Britain has nuclear submarines in the South Atlantic.