Gordon Brown: We’re not giving up the Falklands
Written by Janet
Today, Gordon Brown is going to tell Argentina that Britain is rejecting their demand that they hand over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. The Prime Minister will tell the country’s president, Cristina Kirchner, there is ‘nothing to discuss’ in what are expected to be tense face-to-face talks.
He has already been embarrassed by another South American leader, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, over his economic prudence. The beleaguered Premier will meet Mrs Kirchner on the last leg of his whistlestop world tour, which is designed to forge consensus ahead of next week’s G20 summit in London.
She was elected because she pledged to wrestle the Falklands back from Britain and officials expect her to use the meeting to confront Mr Brown directly. Mrs Kirchner has made the issue of the islands a top priority, announcing in her inaugural speech that Argentina’s sovereignty was non-negotiable. She repeated the claim last year on the 26th anniversary of the 1982 Argentinian invasion. But the Prime Minister said last night: ‘On the sovereignty of the Falklands, there is nothing to discuss from our side.
The principle has been that the islanders should determine sovereignty for themselves. Mr Brown indicated that he would be happy for the islanders to strike a deal over flights to and from the mainland with Argentina. Currently, Argentina does not allow any flights into its airspace.
There have been indications that it might soften its policy in exchange for Britain allowing Argentine families to visit the graves of their war dead. Officials also indicated that Britain planned to contest an expected claim to maritime territory around the Falklands by Argentina later this year. Mr Brown will meet Mrs Kirchner at a conference of Left-wing leaders in the Chilean resort of Vina del Mar. He will also meet U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Spanish prime minister Jose Zapatero and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
On June 1982, Britain retook the Faulklands two and a half months after Argentina invaded. Some 255 British servicemen, more than 650 Argentines and three islanders were killed during the war. Yesterday, Mr Brown touched down in Santiago for talks with Dr Bachelet.
- Posted in: Politics
- Tagged: Argentina demands sovereignty, Faulklands, Gordon Brown, Politics
Newsdesk International 
UK’s Cameron: US disappointing over Falklands
Britain’s opposition chief — and possible next leader — said Wednesday the failure of the United States to back London in a dispute with Argentina was disappointing, as he promised a more candid relationship with Washington if he wins office.
In an interview with The Economist newspaper, Conservative Party leader David Cameron — whose party leads in opinion polls ahead of an election expected in May — hinted that he’d take a tougher stance with allies including President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Cameron said he was disappointed that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attempted recently to facilitate talks between London and Buenos Aires over the status of the contested Falkland Islands.
Argentina and Britain went to war in 1982 over the islands — which are claimed by Buenos Aires, but have been occupied by Britons since the early 1800s. The two countries recently have been caught in a new spat over the exploitation of vast energy reserves beneath waters in the South Atlantic.
“I think it was disappointing, frankly, but I’ve always said the special relationship should be a frank and a candid one, and I think you should frankly and candidly say we’re disappointed,” Cameron told the newspaper.
Clinton offered to help Argentina and Britain resolve their dispute and said the United States was willing to be a go-between, a move which angered some in the U.K.
Cameron suggested that, under his rule, Britain may seek a more modest international role — saying the U.K. could no longer act as the “equal partner” of the U.S.
“We are the junior partner in that relationship, and I think part of getting the relationship right is understanding how best to play the role of the junior partner,” Cameron was quoted as saying.
He insisted that ties to the U.S. will remain Britain’s most important relationship, but claimed “we don’t overstate it and don’t ever think that it’s a sort of equal partnership because it isn’t.”
Cameron has twice held talks with Obama and could potentially take a place on the world stage at a G-20 summit scheduled for Canada in June, if his party wins the looming election.
He has said Afghanistan will be his chief foreign policy priority and pledged to set up a dedicated war cabinet, but indicated that he’s been unimpressed with Karzai.
“I think at his best he can do good things, but we have to be very clear about the need to cut out corruption,” Cameron told the newspaper.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/03/31/international/i104500D24.DTL#ixzz0jmfyMDTV
We have enough of our own to worry about instead of taking on another country.
Why should we really get involved? There was nothing of interest to us there….let them settle it among themselves, we don’t need another war.
Falklands sovereignty is “non-negotiable”, says PM
Prime Minister David Cameron has said Britain would “never negotiate” the sovereignty of the Falklands against the wishes of the islanders.
BBC