Guyana is urging dialogue between the United Kingdom and Argentina to resolve the continuing dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett says.
“We support the UN resolution on this matter… from our own experience with border issues, we know that the countries should sit down and talk it out to try to find a solution,” Rodrigues-Birkett told Stabroek News on Wednesday, as representatives from the Falkland Islands visited Guyana to highlight its territorial issues with Argentina.
A 1964 UN resolution had called on the UK and Argentina to proceed with negotiations on finding a peaceful solution to the sovereignty issue. Argentina invaded the islands in 1982 and this led to a war with the United Kingdom which prevailed.
At a luncheon for the press, hosted by British High Commissioner to Guyana Andrew Ayre on Wednesday, Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Member Mike Summers and another representative shared the concerns of the people of the island group who are seeking to remain under British rule.
According to Summers, Argentina’s continuing claim to the archipelago is an act of “bullyism” and he urged that governments familiarise themselves with the true history of the 778-island archipelago before making a decision on the issue as Falklanders have never really gotten the chance to state its stance to the world until recently.
Only recently, the country held a referendum which saw a 99.8% vote to remain a British Overseas Territory. The results of the referendum, Summers said, should demonstrate to the world that the people want self-determination and should be given that. He informed that the island group is independent financially of the British people and only relies on them for governance. Argentina has dismissed the referendum as having no legal value.
According to historical data, British rule of the island group dates from 1690 up to today, except for short periods when it was ruled by Spain, sometime in the mid 1700s and then Argentina briefly in 1833.
President of Argentina Cristina Kirchner recently met new Pope Francis, who is Argentinian, and asked him to intervene on the sovereignty row over the territory. This move by the Argentine government was “just the lowest of lows,” according to Summers, who stated that he was shocked when he first learnt of the move to gain Vatican support.
Summers also said that Falklanders remain committed to lobbying countries worldwide to support the right of the people as far their self-determination is concerned.
While the visiting delegation did not meet with Rodrigues-Birkett, it did meet with Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira.
