Argentina scrapped a deal with Britain on Tuesday to share oil found off the Falkland Islands days before the 25th anniversary of its invasion of the British territory that it claims as its own.
Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said Argentina decided to end the cooperation arrangement because Britain "unilaterally" opted to put out for public bid oil deals in the area in the South Atlantic.
"Argentina does not oppose cooperating with the United Kingdom, so long as this contributes to reopening talks about the islands' sovereignty," Taiana said after meeting with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner.
"Argentina has asked the United Kingdom for open dialogue" on the Falklands, Taiana said.
"Unfortunately, the persistent intransigence of the United Kingdom has not allowed for frank discussion," he said.
Buenos Aires continues to claim sovereignty over the islands, which the country invaded on April 2, 1982.
More than 900 people died, including 655 Argentines, 255 British troops and three islanders, before Argentine forces surrendered on June 14, 1982.
Argentina, governed by a military junta during the war, returned to democracy in 1983.
"The only way to solve this anachronistic colonial dispute is in a pacific, just and lasting manner," Taina said.
Taiana said he had informed Britain's ambassador to Buenos Aires, John Hughes, about the decision to end the oil deal.
Seismic studies around the archipelago indicate as much as 60 billion barrels of crude lie in the ocean bed.
On Sept. 27, 1995, a joint declaration on southwest Atlantic Offshore Cooperation Activities had sealed the deal to share oil exploration and production.
Argentine former president Carlos Menem had said that the declaration would "allow Argentina to join the exploration and exploitation of crude in the area," Taiana said.
"But in practical terms, it never happened," the foreign minister said.
Test wells drilled in 1998 by Shell and Amerada Hess hit oil, though not of sufficient quality or volume to be marketable.
The price of US$10 for a barrel of oil in 1998 was not attractive, but rising prices could spark greater interest in the seas off the islands.
Some fear that Buenos Aires would take even keener interest in the islands if oil were struck there.
Argentina has repeatedly reaffirmed its "permanent and inalienable objective" of reclaiming the islands, which have been British-ruled for 174 years.
Argentina finds it "incomprehensible" that Britain refuses to discuss the claim although the UN and Organization of American States urged the countries to "renew bilateral negotiations."
The two nations re-established diplomatic relations in 1990.
Argentina says British forces occupied the islands on Jan. 3, 1833, and "removed by force its residents and Argentine authorities who were established there legitimately.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique