UN special committee encourages UK and Argentina to renew sovereignty talks over Falkland Islands

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization unanimously approved a resolution urging the United Kingdom and Argentina to recommence negotiations to permanently resolve the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

The archipelago has been under British political control since 1833, but Argentina lays claim to it.

The resolution, jointly proposed by the Latin American members of the Special Committee – Chile, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, encourages both nations to promptly and peacefully settle the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, and adjacent maritime regions.

During the meeting held at the UN headquarters in New York, regional countries voiced numerous statements in support of Argentina’s rights.

The statements included interventions on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Member and Associated States of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), represented by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Uruguay, respectively.

Argentina appreciated the backing of the G77 + China nations, through Cuba, which holds the group’s presidency, as well as the Atlantic Zone of Peace and Cooperation countries, via an address delivered by Brazil.

Argentinian Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero, reiterated Argentina’s sovereign rights over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, and the surrounding maritime areas.

He urged the UK to honor its international obligation to renew sovereignty negotiations.

Founded in 1961, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization is tasked with implementing General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV).

It reviews 17 unresolved colonial situations annually, including the Falkland Islands issue.

The UN General Assembly acknowledged the existence of a sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the UK over the islands through Resolution 2065 of 1965.