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1 year ago
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Falkland Islanders have insisted they will stay 'part of the UK family' after Argentina's newly elected president Javier Milei vowed to 'reclaim' the territory and said doing so was 'non-negotiable'.
Mark Pollard, the chair of the Falkland Islands legislative assembly, said the Falklands 'are British' and any discussions on their sovereignty are 'non-negotiable' after Milei said the territory belongs to Argentina and vowed to 'get it back'.
Pollard, the Chair of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly, vowed that the Islanders will remain part of the 'UK family' while pointing to the results of the island's 2013 referendum where 99.8 per cent of people voted to remain British.
Referring to Milei's insistence that Britain returning the Falkland Islands was 'non-negotiable' during his presidential campaign, Pollard told MailOnline that the democratically elected leaders of the territory 'are very clear that discussions on our sovereignty are non-negotiable'.
The Falklands were the subject of a short but brutal war after Argentina invaded in 1982. Britain drove out the invaders after dispatching a naval armada, but the issue has never been considered settled in Buenos Aires.
During his presidential campaign, Milei (pictured with a chainsaw) insisted that Britain returning the Falkland Islands was 'non-negotiable', adding that the territory, known as the Malvinas in Argentina, is Argentine
Pictured: British troops patrol the Falkland Islands last year
British Troops celebrate retaking the Falklands from Argentina after 74 days in 1982
Mark Pollard hit back and said the Falkland Islands 'are British' and any discussions on their sovereignty are 'non-negotiable' after Argentinian president-elect Javier Milei said the territory belongs to Argentina and vowed to 'get it back'
Milei, who uses a medium to communicate with his dead dog for advice on political matters, had said during his presidential campaign that Britain must hand over the Falkland Islands, adding that the territory, known as the Malvinas in Argentina, are Argentine.
But Pollard told MailOnline: 'It is not unusual in Argentina for a new President and their party to make commitments in relation to the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
'We, the democratically Elected Members are very clear that discussions on our sovereignty are non-negotiable.'
He added: 'Falkland Islanders are clear in their desire to remain as a British Overseas Territory and our commitment to being part of the UK family, living in freedom under the government of our choice.'
Referring to the results of the 2013 referendum, Pollard added: 'We exercised our right to self-determination 10 years ago where 99.8% of people voted to retain our status as a United Kingdom Overseas Territory in which there was a 92% turnout.
'The United Kingdom continues to support and protect our people’s inalienable right, as enshrined in the United Nations Charter.'
Milei, a right-wing economist known as 'el Loco' - or the Madman - who promised to shake-up Argentina with his win, had said he would 'make every effort' to get the Falkland Islands back - but stopped short of saying he would go to war over them.
He insisted it was 'non-negotiable' for Britain to hand the Falklands over to Argentina, comparing it to the UK returning Hong Kong to China.
Argentina believes the Falklands were illegally taken from it in 1833 and invaded the British colony in 1982. The United Kingdom sent troops and Argentina lost the two-month war for the archipelago in a conflict that claimed the lives of 649 Argentines and 255 British soldiers.
Argentina still claims the islands while Britain says the Falklands are a self-governing entity under its protection. A 2013 referendum there resulted in a 99.8 per cent vote to remain British.
Milei insisted during his presidential campaign, which saw him revving a chainsaw to symbolically cut the state down to size, that questions over the future of the Falkland Islands 'cannot be ignored'.
He said: 'What do I propose? Argentina's sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands is non-negotiable. The Malvinas are Argentine.
'Now we have to see how we are going to get them back. It is clear that the war option is not a solution.
'What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.
Pictured: Javier Milei arrives at a performance of Madame Butterfly with his girlfriend Fatima Florez on Friday night, where they were met with a mixed response from guests
Conflict: British troops arriving in the Falklands Islands in 1982
'You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.
'You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands.
The bitter Falklands War and how Argentina still lays claim to the islands and insists on calling them 'Islas Malvinas'
The British had a small settlement on the Falklands from 1766. When it was abandoned in 1774, the territory became part of Argentina.
From that moment the Argentinians insisted on calling them the Islas Malvinas, with many Argentine governments since then using them as a way of banging the patriotic drum, particularly at times of instability and economic turmoil.
Argentina still maintains the islands should belong to them and want the world to refer to them as 'Islas Malvinas' only.
In 1883, the British seized the islands back by force.
The Argentinians briefly recaptured the islands during the 1982 war, but Britain reclaimed them after just 74 days.
On April 2 1982, Argentina invaded. This led to the brief, but bitter and bloody conflict.
Argentina's military junta hoped to restore its support at a time of economic crisis, by reclaiming sovereignty of the islands. It said it had inherited them from Spain in the 1800s and they were close to South America.
The UK, which had ruled the islands for 150 years, quickly chose to fight. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said the 1,800 Falklanders were 'of British tradition and stock'.
Within days a British task force was sent on the 8,000 mile journey to re-take the islands.
Mrs Thatcher wrote of the launch: 'The Task Force had been despatched with a speed and efficiency which astounded the world and made us feel very proud and very British'.
After the fleet arrived in early May they set up an exclusion zone around the islands and then on May 2 the Argentine ship the General Belgrano was sunk by British submarines.
In the fighting that followed, 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen lost their lives, as did three Falkland Islanders.
'We are looking for a solution for the Malvinas Islands to return to Argentina through diplomacy, a solution that is viable, that is achievable.'
Milei has previously lauded former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as one of 'the great leaders in the history of humanity'.
Those comments were condemned by veterans of the Falklands war as Thatcher is still reviled in Argentina for ordering the sinking of the General Belgrano cruiser, killing 323 people on board, during the 1982 war with the UK.
Milei has previously blamed the Argentinian government of making 'a series of errors' that has made the situation even more complicated. In April last year, he said if Argentina wants the Falkland Islands to become Argentinian, it would mean a 'very long negotiation' with Britain.
At the time, he said: 'Argentina never created the conditions for the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands to want to become Argentines.
'Therefore it is an extremely complicated situation, in which Argentina committed all possible errors, resulting in a stuck and muddy situation. So now it is a counter-factual scenario because of all the errors. It is most complicated.'
He added: 'If we want the Islands to return and become part of Argentina some day, is will mean a long, very long negotiation in which Argentina must propose something interesting.
'And Argentina is not an interesting country, if its own people are choosing to leave the country,' concluded the lawmaker who is now president elect of the nation.'
Diana Mondino, a close adviser of Milei, said in September that the population of the Falklands – 99.8 per cent of whom voted to remain British in a 2013 referendum – 'cannot be disrespected'.
Mondino added that Argentina needed to 'become a normal country' to persuade Islanders to seek closer ties.
'How would anyone not born and bred in Argentina understand [our] inflation?' she said. 'Why would anyone want to become a part of a society – we need to become a normal country, and we're an empty country,' she said.
On Britain's part, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has ruled out opening any new negotiations over the Falklands' future.
Sunak's official spokesman said following Milei's win: 'It's obviously a settled issue, a long settled issue, and we have no plans to revisit it.'
Pressed on suggestions by Mr Milei that a new relationship could be struck similar to that between China and Hong Kong, the PM's spokesman added: 'The position of the Falkland islands was settled some time ago and will not be changed.'
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said on Tuesday: 'The Falkland Islands are British. That is non-negotiable and undeniable.
'99.8% of islanders voted to remain British and we will always defend their right to self-determination and the UK's sovereignty.'
But yesterday, a furious Argentina has reignited the row over the Falkland Islands with the government demanding the UK 'returns to negotiations' in a fierce rebuke over Sunak's comments that the territory's sovereignty 'is not up for discussion'.
Argentina's Foreign Ministry said its claim to the Falkland Islands constituted a 'permanent and unwavering objective' for the nation. It said it 'rejects' Sunak's comment that the islands' sovereignty is 'not up for discussion'.
Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in a long statement: 'In relation to the statements made to the press by the spokesman for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in which he stated that "the question of the Falkland Islands is an issue resolved a long time ago and that there are no plans to review the British position', the Argentine government rejects these expressions.'
It added: 'In these 40 years of democracy, the different Argentine governments have demanded that the United Kingdom resume bilateral negotiations, which constitutes a state policy that is enshrined in the first transitional clause of the National Constitution.
'Said provision ratifies the legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty of the Argentine Republic over the Malvinas... as they are an integral part of the national territory.'
In March, Argentina furiously accused Britain of ignoring international law after it ripped up a co-operation pact with the UK and demanded new talks over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago.
But in response, Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said at the time 'the Falkland Islands are British'.
Since the 1980s conflict, UK ministers have been keen to shoot down any talk of Argentina having any claim to the islands.
In July, Sunak hit out at the European Union's 'regrettable choice of words' after it appeared to have endorsed the name Argentina prefers.
A diplomatic row erupted after Brussels referred to the islands as 'Islas Malvinas' in a declaration jointly signed with Argentina and other Latin American countries.
With his victory on Sunday night, Milei has thrust Argentina into the unknown regarding just how extreme his policies will be.
In a speech following his dramatic victory, he vowed that the 'reconstruction of Argentina begins today' while adding he would 'drain the swamp' in reference to stemming the influence of special interests and lobbyists.
Milei, who often dresses up as his superhero alter-ego 'General AnCap' which is short for anarcho-capitalist, made his name furiously denouncing the 'political caste' on television programs.
His pledge for abrupt, severe change resonated with Argentines weary of annual inflation soaring above 140% and a poverty rate that reached 40%. He will take power on December 10.
Milei, who is also a prominent economist and radio chat-show host, has spoken openly about his preference for threesomes and how he enjoys communicating via telepathy with his dead dog for political advice.
He failed to win the primary round of voting ahead of the runoff election, but came in second to Massa in large part due to support from young voters who are so disenchanted with more 'conventional' politicians that they have turned to a man whose recent biography was titled El Loco, or The Madman.
A political unknown until a few years ago, Milei was elected to Argentina's parliament in 2021 as a member of La Libertad Avanza ('Freedom Advances').
He prefers to call himself an anarcho-capitalist, which means he'd like to rip up as much government intervention as he can and leave it all to the free market.
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