Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Thursday said that she has ordered the declassification of all secret documents on the 1982 Falklands War with Britain.
Speaking on the 33rd anniversary of Argentina’s invasion of the disputed South Atlantic islands, which it calls the Malvinas, Fernandez said the Ministry of Defense had 30 days to make all files on the conflict public.
She also used the anniversary — commemorated in Argentina as the Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas Islands War — to criticize Britain’s recent announcement that it plans to beef up its defenses on the islands.
Photo: AFP
Fernandez said Argentina was determined to gain sovereignty over the islands, but through peaceful means.
“International law and dialogue, not militarization, are the path to a reunion and sovereignty,” she said at a ceremony in the city of Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America.
“We will see the islands form part of our territory again. It’s not just wishful thinking,” she told an audience that included war veterans in dress uniform.
British Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon last week announced plans to spend £180 million (US$267 million) over 10 years to counter “continuous intimidation” from Argentina in the Falklands.
The Fernandez administration called the measure a “provocation.”
Argentina claims it inherited the remote, wind-swept islands from Spain when it gained independence.
Britain argues it has historically ruled the islands and that the islanders should have the right to self-determination.
In a 2013 referendum, 99.8 percent voted to remain a British overseas territory.
The dispute has flared up again in recent years since the discovery of oil deposits off the islands.
The 74-day Falklands War claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three islanders.
The remains of 123 Argentines killed in the war have never been identified.
In 2012, Fernandez asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to mediate with the British government so DNA samples could be taken from the bodies, which are buried on the island in graves marked “Argentine soldier known only to God.”
Argentine Secretary for Matters Relating to the Malvinas Daniel Filmus said officials had finished taking DNA from the soldiers’ relatives for comparison.
“Now we just need to make progress on the humanitarian aspect,” he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in