Falkland Islands row erupts over Argentina’s deal with UK | World | News
Argentine war veterans have slammed their country’s President Javier Milei and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino after Argentina and the UK agreed on a deal over flights to the Falkland Islands, it has been claimed.
The Malvinas Islands Veterans’ Centre in La Plata (CECIM) accused the President and Foreign Minister of “abuse of authority” and “violation of duties of public officials” in a complaint filed by judge María Servini in the federal courts of the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Retiro, according to judicial sources reported by Agenda Malvinas.
Lawyer Valeria Carreras had reportedly filed another complaint against Ms Mondino on September 30.
Ms Carreras questioned in her complaint why the National Congress had not been involved in an issue of Argentine sovereignty.
It comes after Argentina’s Vice-President launched a blistering attack on plans by London and Buenos Aires to ease tensions over the issue of the Falkland Islands sovereignty, contested by Argentina. The UK’s foreign minister David Lammy and his Argentinian counterpart Diana Mondino held talks on the sidelines at the UN General Assembly, in a bid to build diplomatic bridges between the two countries.
The politicians agreed on a deal which includes resuming flights to the islands, restarting negotiations on a humanitarian project plan, and organising a trip for relatives of fallen soldiers to visit their war graves. Flights from Sao Paulo in Brazil will now once a month stop in Cordoba, Argentina.
Furthermore, both countries have also agreed to cooperate on the conservation of fisheries. However, the agreement was slammed by the Argentine Vice-President, Victoria Villarruel. She said the plans did not serve the interests of her country.
“Do they take us for fools?” she asked in a withering critique over the weekend. “They are getting material, concrete and immediate benefits, while they are offering us crumbs as emotional consolation and weakening our ability to negotiate.”
Ms Villarruel comes from a military family and is considered to be an arch-conservative. Her support was vital in helping Mr Milei secure victory in last year’s elections.
She has previously clashed with President Milei over pay rises and even a football chant, that caused controversy. Buenos Aires faced backlash and had to issue an apology after hurling accusations at France for being “colonialist” and branding the French as “hypocrites”.
Earlier this year, a Falkland Islands politician disclosed to the Express that if Argentina dropped sanctions against the archipelago, notable economic prospects could be unlocked for Argentinian enterprises on the islands.
Teslyn Barkman, who serves on the modest eight-member Falklands Legislative Assembly (MLA), communicated with the Express in July. During the conversation, she highlighted the potential economic ventures connected to the Sea Lion oilfield and pointed out the opportunities Argentina would forfeit.
“Argentina has created a list of illegal economic sanctions and a bunch of domestic laws that target businesses that operate in the Falklands,” detailed Ms Barkman. She elucidated the dilemma, adding, “So, by their own doing, I suppose, they restrict businesses from investing here because they don’t recognise our people as existing, which, as you can imagine, is rather a confusing state of affairs.”
