But the Argentine president saw no point in the visit of British advisor and former Prime Minister David Cameron to the islands last March. || Page 12
July 3, 2024 Time: 3:30 PM
Some local lawmakers denounced Javier Milei’s “failure to defend Argentina’s natural resources.”
The governor of Argentina’s province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands, Gustavo Melilla, on Wednesday rejected a British initiative to hold a popular consultation in the Malvinas Islands with the aim of moving forward with the extraction of up to 500 million barrels of oil in the archipelago claimed by Buenos Aires.
The UK-promoted measure gained notoriety this week and seeks to have islanders choose, between June 24 and August 5, whether or not they want to encourage the confiscation of oil in areas adjacent to Soledad and Grand Malvina.
UK plans to loot 500 million barrels of oil in Argentina’s Malvinas Islands
The UK-promoted measure gained notoriety this week and seeks to have islanders choose, between June 24 and August 5, whether or not they want to encourage the confiscation of oil in areas adjacent to Soledad and Grand Malvina.
These statements come in the context of the United Kingdom’s unilateral decision to expand its control over the Falkland Islands’ maritime areas, and to ban navigation and fishing in an additional area of 166,000 square kilometers.2.
After learning of the British decision on the possibility of promoting oil extraction, Melilla expressed what it called its “categorical and strong rejection of the new illegal British measure, which seeks to hold a popular consultation in the Malvinas Islands to promote the exploitation and “plunder of our hydrocarbon resources in flagrant violation of international law.”
“We will not allow the United Kingdom and the Israeli company Navitas – which is under sanctions and has ignored the hints of the national government – to proceed with this unilateral action, in violation of General Assembly resolution 31/49 of the United Nations and current national and regional regulations,” protested the president whose jurisdiction is the Malvinas Islands.
He also stressed that “just as we have done with all companies that have tried to do business in the Malvinas Islands without the necessary authorization from us as legitimate territorial authorities, we will act in the same manner and use the legal tools at our disposal to pursue these companies.”
In the same vein, Melilla said that if this progress is allowed, “we will face extraordinary economic damage and imminent environmental damage that could affect not only the Malvinas Islands but the entire region.”
Finally, he announced that he would appeal “to the support and rejection of the relevant regional and multilateral organizations, to stop this insult that constitutes a long-term saving of non-renewable resources for all Argentines.”
In the same vein, Senator Cristina López, from the Por La Patria Union, considered that “the decision of the United Kingdom to extract oil in the Malvinas Islands is a new violation of our sovereignty”. “From Tierra del Fuego, we denounce Javier Milei’s inaction in defending our natural resources. We are still waiting for Diana Mondino to give us explanations”, protested López.
The governor’s remarks come after Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino presented the Malvinas Islands case to the UN Decolonization Committee in New York a few weeks ago.
Mondino’s position contrasts with that of President Javier Milei, who has been vague on the issue.
Author: teleSUR – DRL
Source: Page 12 – Distabi
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