But the Argentinians are behaving likes despots!

Falkland Islanders ‘must decide own future’, says Hague

The forthcoming referendum on the Falkland Islands’ sovereignty has been dismissed as meaningless by Argentina

It must be up to the people of the Falkland Islands to “decide their own future”, William Hague has said after meeting islands’ representatives.

The foreign secretary said he welcomed the results of the islanders’ referendum on sovereignty in March.

He earlier met Jan Cheek and Dick Sawle, of the islands’ legislative assembly, at the Foreign Office.

He added it was a “shame” Argentine foreign minister Hector Timerman had declined to attend that meeting.

‘Settlers’

Mrs Cheek and Mr Sawle said they were “disappointed but hardly surprised” at his absence.

“Mr Timerman dismisses us as ‘settlers’. Well, we are settlers. Like countries across the continent of the Americas, we came into existence through waves of settlement from Europe and elsewhere,” said Mrs Cheek.

“Indeed, we Falkland Islanders settled in our home long before many parts of Argentina were settled by the Argentines,” she continued.

“Mr Timerman knows full well that it is simply untrue to say that we have fewer political rights than anyone else, or that the United Nations has said that self-determination does not apply to the Falklands, or that UN resolutions preclude Argentina from sitting down with us.

“Repeating these misrepresentations doesn’t make them any truer, however inconvenient for Argentina.”

Buenos Aires was “deeply worried about our referendum”, she said, “which is why they spend so much time dismissing it”.

“Talk of the Falklands being Argentine in 20 years makes for good headlines – but smacks of desperation.