Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of
Argentina on the occasion of the 183rd anniversary of the usurpation of the
Malvinas Islands by the United Kingdom
marked on 3rd January 2016
"On 3 January 1833, the Malvinas Islands were occupied by British forces,
which evicted the Argentine population and authorities lawfully established there
and replaced them 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.
Since its beginnings as an independent nation, the Argentine Republic has,
through government acts, publicly expressed its political resolve to exercise its
effective sovereignty over the southern territories and maritime areas which it
inherited from Spain.
Today, 183 years after the start of that illegal occupation, which is still
continuing, the Argentine people and Government reaffirm once again the
inalienable sovereignty rights of the Argentine Republic over the Malvinas Islands,
South Georgia Islands and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime
areas.
The permanent and unrenounceable objective of recovering the full exercise of
sovereignty over these territories and maritime areas, in accordance with the
principles of international law, while respecting the way of life of the inhabitants of
the Malvinas Islands is enshrined in the first transitional provision of the national
Constitution.
This objective is a State policy and reflects the collective desire of the
entire Argentine people.
Last year marked the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of United Nations
General Assembly resolution 2065 (XX), the first resolution to refer specifically to
the question of the Malvinas Islands, which was endorsed in all subsequent
resolutions on the matter adopted by the Assembly and its Special Committee on
decolonization.
For decades, the international community has singled out the question of the
Malvinas Islands as one of the forms of colonialism that must be brought to an end
and has urged Argentina and the United Kingdom to find, as soon as possible, a
peaceful and lasting solution to the sovereignty dispute, through bilateral
negotiations.
Our region has unanimously rejected the British military presence in the South
Atlantic and has expressed its concern through a variety of pronouncements at the
presidential summits of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) States parties
and associated States, of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and of
the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and at the Ibero -
American Summit. Other regions have also expressed their support for the
resumption of negotiations at forums such as the South American and Arab
Countries Summit and the Africa-South America Summit.
Additionally, the Group of 77 and China has expressly recognized the right of
the Argentine Republic to take legal action, with full respect for international law
and relevant resolutions, against unauthorized hydrocarbon exploration and
exploitation activities in its maritime areas, which include the continental shelf.
Fifty years after the adoption of General Assembly resolution 2065 (XX), the
Argentine Republic renews its firm commitment to the peaceful settlement of
disputes, international law and multilateralism. It invites the United Kingdom to
resume negotiations in order to find, as soon as possible, a just and definitive
solution to the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia Islands
and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, taking the path of
dialogue, peace and diplomacy in line with the calls of the international
community.”
