My country’s pursuit of sovereignty didn’t end in 1982. I urge the UK, in line with UN resolutions, to resume negotiations
- Santiago Cafiero is the Argentine foreign minister
- Argentina criticises UK’s refusal to talk about the future of the Malvinas
The 40th anniversary of the Malvinas war compels us to pay homage to and honour the memory of the fallen Argentine and British soldiers who lost their lives there. It should also lead us to reflect on why, four decades on from the cessation of hostilities, Argentina and the United Kingdom have not been able to resume a substantive dialogue to resolve the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, despite the call made by the international community through UN resolutions.
The immediate events that triggered the war and the details of the conflict itself are well known to the British public. But it is often forgotten that, for a period of 16 years beginning in 1965, there was a bilateral negotiation process between Argentina and the UK that was in line with the mandate of the UN resolutions. These were true negotiations on the substance of the issue, sovereignty. Over that period of time, several concrete alternatives were explored to help resolve the dispute between our countries, taking into account the interests of the inhabitants of the islands.
Santiago Cafiero is the Argentine foreign minister
This article was amended on 2 April 2022 to reflect the author’s use in his text of the term Malvinas
