Agenda item 45
Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
United Nations Document A/66/653
Letter dated 3 January 2012 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission
Argentina to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
On instructions from my Government, I have the honour to transmit herewith the press release issued today by the Government of the Argentine Republic on the occasion of the latest anniversary of the illegitimate occupation of the Malvinas Islands by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (see annex).
I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly under agenda item 45 concerning the question of the Malvinas Islands.
(Signed) Mateo Estreme
Deputy Permanent Representative
Chargé d’affaires a.i.
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Annex to the letter dated 3 January 2012 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
On 3 January 1833, British forces occupied the Malvinas Islands, expelling their inhabitants and replacing the Argentine authorities that had been legitimately established there with subjects of the occupying Power. The Argentine Republic immediately protested that illegitimate act of force, which continues today and to which it never consented.
The Argentine Government once again reaffirms the Argentine Republic’s imprescriptible rights of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia Islands and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, which are an integral part of its national territory.
The unlawful British colonial occupation, which is now in its 179th year, is aggravated by the provocative and continuous disregard for international law displayed by the United Kingdom in its persistent unwillingness to resume negotiations on sovereignty pursuant to the United Nations mandate in force, as established in General Assembly resolution 2065 (XX) and endorsed in nine subsequent resolutions. This illegitimate situation is further exacerbated by the presence of the military base established in the South Atlantic on the pretext of alleged defence requirements and by the constant conduct of unlawful unilateral activities in the disputed area. These activities contravene the relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly; they include the plundering of renewable and non-renewable natural resources in the area, in violation of international law, as well as military exercises, including the firing of missiles from the Malvinas Islands.
The States of the region have unanimously rejected the British military presence in the South Atlantic and have expressed concern about the above-mentioned unilateral activities in various statements issued at the presidential summits of the States members and associate members of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Ibero-American community of nations.
The resumption of negotiations has also been supported by other regions through forums such as the Summit of South American-Arab Countries, the Africa-South America Summit and the Group of 77 and China.
The Argentine Government once again reiterates, on the 179th anniversary of its dispossession, its continued and sincere willingness to resume the process of bilateral negotiations with the United Kingdom, as called for by the international community, in order to find a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute and thus put an end to this anachronistic situation, which is incompatible with developments in the current post-colonial world.
