Argentina RIPS UP Falklands pact with UK and demands ‘renegotiations on the islands’ sovereignty’

Argentina broke a cooperation pact with the United Kingdom and demanded new talks on the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.

But in response, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly insisted that “the Falkland Islands are British.”

The British-ruled Falkland Islands, known as Malvinas in Spanish, were the subject of a short but brutal war after Argentina invaded in 1982. Britain drove out the invading force after sending in a naval armada.

In 2016, the two sides agreed to disagree on sovereignty, but to cooperate on issues such as energy, shipping and fishing, and on identifying the remains of unknown Argentine soldiers killed in battle.

But at the G20 talks in New Delhi, Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero informed Cleverly that his government was abandoning the pact when they met on the sidelines of the summit.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (pictured at the G20 Summit on Thursday) insisted that “the Falkland Islands are British”.

In a series of tweets, he renewed Argentina’s longstanding demands for negotiations on the sovereignty of the islands at the UN in New York.

After the couple’s G20 meeting in India, Cleverly said: ‘The Falkland Islands are British. The islanders have the right to decide their own future: they have chosen to remain a self-governing UK Overseas Territory.”

A 2013 referendum on the islands, known as Las Islas Malvinas in Spanish, resulted in a 99.8% vote to remain British.

Argentina’s decision to withdraw from the pact and demand new sovereignty talks was announced just as Britain’s Americas Minister David Rutley was visiting Buenos Aires for what he called “productive” meetings.

“Argentina has chosen to walk away from an agreement that has brought comfort to the families of those who died in the 1982 conflict,” Rutley tweeted, calling the decision “disappointing.”

“Argentina, the United Kingdom and the Falklands benefited from this agreement,” he said.

Both countries last year marked the 40th anniversary of the 1982 conflict, which claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three women who lived on the island.

Tensions over the Falklands War continue. Last year, an Argentine song insulting the English over the Falklands War became the country’s top song on Spotify after a video of Lionel Messi’s team singing the song during the World Cup went viral.

Video surfaced of jubilant Argentine players removing their shirts as they mocked Brazil and England in the song after they defeated Croatia in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday night.

In 1982, the Falkland Islands were invaded by Argentine forces who were repulsed in a ten-week war ordered by Margaret Thatcher and the islands reverted to British control. Pictured: British soldiers raising the flag after the war.

The lyrics include a line that reads ‘Ingleses putos de Malvinas no me olvido’, which roughly translates to ‘F***ing English in the Falklands, I don’t give’.

The word ‘putos’ to describe the English often has homophobic connotations and can also mean cowards, while the Malvinas are known by their Spanish name ‘Las Malvinas’.

Argentina still claims sovereignty over the Falklands despite being a British Overseas Territory since 1833.

But Argentina claims it acquired the Falklands from Spain in 1816 before Britain asserted its dominance.

In 1982, the archipelago was invaded by Argentine forces who were repulsed in a ten-week war ordered by Margaret Thatcher and the islands returned to British control.

During fierce fighting on land, air and sea, a total of seven British ships were lost, including Sir Galahad, HMS Coventry and HMS Sheffield, which was hit by an Exocet anti-ship missile.