British diplomatic chief David Cameron will travel in the coming days to the Falkland Islands, the territory at the center of the sovereignty conflict between the United Kingdom and Argentina, where he will reaffirm the inhabitants’ “right to self-determination”. .
David Cameron will travel to the archipelago as part of the first leg of a trip to South America and New York on undisclosed dates, the British Foreign Office said in a statement issued today, quoted by Agence France Presse. .
This will be the first visit by a British minister to the Falkland Islands (as the British gave the islands) since 2016, when the defense minister visited the archipelago.
These South Atlantic islands, located 400 kilometers off the coast of Argentina and almost 13 thousand kilometers from Britain, were the subject of a war between London and Buenos Aires in the 1980s.
On April 2, 1982, Argentine military forces under the command of the military junta that ruled Argentina invaded the islands, which had been ruled by Britain since 1833, sparking a conflict that ended with the surrender of the Argentine military on June 14 of the following year.
During the war, 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three civilians living on the islands died.
The announcement of David Cameron’s visit comes weeks after the inauguration of Argentine President Javier Miley, who announced his intention to “reclaim” the Falkland Islands through “diplomatic” means.
London says almost the entire 2,000-strong population of the islands approved British control in a 2013 referendum.
According to David Cameron, “The Falklands occupy an important place in the British family, and as long as they wish to remain part of it, the issue of sovereignty will not be discussed.”
Thus, the head of diplomacy intends to “reaffirm the United Kingdom’s commitment to protecting the right of residents to self-determination.”
During the visit, David Cameron will pay tribute to the 255 British soldiers who died in the 1982 war.
For Argentina, the islands, inherited from the Spanish crown after the country’s independence, were occupied by British troops in 1833 and then the Argentine governor and settlers were expelled to the mainland.