Falklands row: Cameron vows to defend Islanders

[WestVirginiaRebel]

UK Telegraph:

David Cameron will “do everything to protect the interests of the Falkland Islanders”, Downing Street said today.

The news came as Buenos Aries told the Prime Minister should return the islands to Argentina 180 years to the day since they were “forcibly stripped” from the south American country.

Downing Street said that the Prime Minister would “do everything to protect the interests of the Falkland Islanders”.

The source added: “The people of the Falklands have a clear desire to remain British and the Argentine government should respect their right to self-determination.”

The commitment from Downing Street comes despite repeated warnings from ex-admirals that Britain might not have the military capability to liberate the Falklands if Argentina mounted an invasion, similar to that of 1982.

The claims, from Argentine president Cristina Kirchner, were made in an open letter to Mr Cameron published today in The Guardian.

The 212-word letter, copied to Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, repeatedly refers to the Falklands as the Malvinas, the Argentine Government’s name for the islands, and as a “colony”.

Today the islanders hit back, insisting that they did not live in a British colony. Technically, the islands are a “overseas territory of the UK Government”.

Dr Barry Elsby, Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands, told The Daily Telegraph: “We are not a colony – our relationship with the United Kingdom is by choice.

“Unlike the Government of Argentina, the United Kingdom respects the right of our people to determine our own affairs, a right that is enshrined in the UN Charter and which is which is ignored by Argentina.”

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Translation: Go pound sand, Ms. Kirchner.