Phil Beacall
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Status: Offline | The moment David Cameron refuses to accept letter marked ’Malvinas’ from Argentine president
The moment David Cameron refuses to accept letter marked ’Malvinas’ from Argentine president as she confronts him over Falklands at G20 meeting
David Cameron was involved in an extraordinary stand-up discussion with Argentina’s president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on 19 Jun 2012 over the future of the Falkand Islands.
The Argentine leader appeared to attempt to thrust a package stuffed with documents into Mr Cameron’s hands at the G20 summit in Mexico.
To her fury, the Prime Minister refused to accept it – and insisted that she respect the views of the islanders, who want to remain British.
Witnesses said the A4 envelope was marked ‘UN/Malvinas’ – a reference to Argentina’s name for the islands.
The Prime Minister told Mrs Kirchner: ‘I am not proposing a full discussion now on the Falklands but I hope you have noted that they are holding a referendum and you should respect their views. We should believe in self-determination and act as democrats here in the G20.’
Mr Cameron said later: ‘I told Kirchner that if she believes in democracy then she should respect the will of the people of the Falklands, and I wanted to use this opportunity to tell her this, which I did with some vigour.’
One witness said Mrs Kirchner responded to Mr Cameron with ‘some ramblings about Spanish headlines, UN and Malvinas’.
They added: ‘Her interpreter couldn’t keep up.’
The conversation apparently ended when Mr Cameron walked off. A Downing Street official said: ‘If they do want to give us a letter, then it’s easy enough to find the UK delegation office at the G20.
‘But we don’t need an envelope from Kirchner to know what the UN resolutions say.’
They added: ‘All the UN resolutions refer to the UN charter, which enshrines the principle of self-determination and that is what we are asking the
Argentines to respect.’
The Islanders announced plans for a referendum next year in an attempt to fend off Argentinian claims to the territory, which have become more vocal around the 30th anniversary of the 1982 war.
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