Argentina says it will control Falklands within 20 years

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Published time: February 06, 2013 01:25
Edited time: February 07, 2013 15:52

The Falkland Islands will be under Argentina’s control within 20 years, the country’s foreign minister told British press, claiming that the UK “has never missed an opportunity to find a solution” to the issue.

Speaking to reporters from The Guardian and The Independent, Hector Timerman stressed that “not one single country in the world” supports Britain’s claims to right of rule in the Falkands, to which he referred by their Spanish name, the Malvinas.

"I don't think it will take another 20 years,” he said, talking about re-gaining Argentine control over the islands. “I think that the world is going through a process of understanding more and more that this is a colonial issue, an issue of colonialism, and that the people living there were transferred to the islands.”

In the interview, the Argentine foreign minister ruled out military action to resolve the issue, accusing the British government of militarizing the South Atlantic region in a grab for oil and natural resources.

"Wherever there is a smell of oil, big powers start to look around and they find a reason to stay there. I think probably oil will complicate the peaceful solution that is asked for by the United Nations. I think in history that Britain has had a tendency to stay in places where there are natural resources belonging to other people."

Timerman expressed his willingness to discuss the issue with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who refused to meet his Argentine counterpart in London. The Foreign Office insists that such a meeting will not take place without Falklands Islands representatives present.

Meanwhile Timerman underlined that “according to the United Nations, there are only two parties to the conflict – the United Kingdom and the Republic of Argentina,” and that by insisting on the introduction of a third party, that being the Falkland Islanders, London is ignoring more than 40 UN resolutions calling on the two countries to negotiate.

“I think the fanatics are not in Buenos Aires, [but] maybe in the United Kingdom because they are 14,000 kilometers away from the islands. And I think they are using the people living in the islands for political [reasons] and to have access to oil and natural resources which belong to the Argentine people,” the top Argentine diplomat said, as quoted by The Guardian.