Argentina criticizes the deployment of British weapons in the Malvinas Islands

This Saturday the Government of Argentina rejected “in the strongest terms” the latest deployment of British weapons in the Malvinas Islands, an archipelago whose sovereignty, claimed by the South American country, has been held by the United Kingdom since 1833 under the name of the Falkland Islands.

The Foreign Ministry of the South American country criticized, in a statement, the installation on the islands of the “Sky Sabre” anti-aircraft system, which has a range three times greater than the Rapier-type missiles deployed to date.

“This is a new and unjustified show of force and a deliberate departure from the calls of the numerous resolutions of the United Nations and other international organizations, which urge both Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume negotiations, in order to find a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute that involves both countries in the Question of the Malvinas Islands”, indicated the Foreign Ministry.

For the Argentine Foreign Ministry, the British “persistence” in expanding its military arsenal in the South Atlantic contravenes resolution 31/49 of the United Nations General Assembly, which urges both parties to refrain from adopting “decisions unilateral” that alter the situation of the islands while the sovereignty negotiations recommended by the UN continue.

That military presence also violates, according to the Argentine Government, Assembly resolution 41/11, which asks the two countries to respect the South Atlantic region as a “zone of peace and cooperation, in particular by reducing and possibly eliminating their military presence in that region.

“In that sense, the alleged defensive condition of the British military base in the South Atlantic is not only totally unjustified but also represents a threat to the entire area,” said the Foreign Ministry, concluding that Argentina maintains its “peaceful vocation” and its ” constant will” to resume negotiations with the United Kingdom.

At the beginning of the year, the Argentine Executive presented the “agenda” of actions that it plans to launch to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the war with the United Kingdom over the Malvinas Islands and reinforce Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over that South Atlantic archipelago.

The two countries clashed over the sovereignty of Malvinas in a war that began on April 2, 1982, with the landing of Argentine troops in the archipelago, and ended in June of that year with their surrender to British forces.

In the war, 255 British, 3 islanders and 649 Argentines died.

Since the end of the war, the United Kingdom has refused to resume negotiations with Argentina, despite repeated calls for dialogue by the United Nations and other international forums. (I)