Falklands see referendum as a new dawn

Mar 14, 2013 News

Gavin Short, a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Falklands, announced, “This morning my fellow Falkland Islanders and I woke up to a new future. Last night, our country made its voice heard.”
“Let me be clear that thirty years after the brutal invasion of our home, the people of the Falklands want nothing more than neighbourly relations with Argentina based on shared interests and mutual respect.”
Short said that the people of the Falklands have offered to sit down with Argentina and discuss differences, as twenty-first century nations should. “But the Government of Argentina prefers not to engage with us, dismissing our people as colonial settlers or pretending – as their Foreign Minister said in London recently – that we do not exist.” “Our referendum this week, which has put an international spotlight on the Falkland Islands people, is our direct response to President Kirchner’s policy of dismissal and disdain.”
The referendum was a resounding ‘yes’ to the desire of the Falklanders to remain as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. “This is the will of the people, a decision that has been expressed freely and unequivocally,” Short said.
“It is also our fundamental democratic right, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and which no amount of pressure from the government of Argentina will change,” he added.
Mr Short said the Falklands and the UK share a modern relationship, based on democratic values. “Like Argentina, our society is made up of European settlers. But, like Argentina, we are an open and increasingly cosmopolitan society.
Argentina’s Ambassador in London, Alicia Castro, dismissed the referendum as “Brits voting to be British”. Over twenty nationalities voted in the referendum – including Argentines, Chileans, Americans, Russians and Britons: but all of them Falkland Islanders.
“We are not held here against our wishes. We are not an implanted population, illegally supplanting an original indigenous population. These Islands have been our home for nearly one hundred and eighty years.
“Some of us have family ties going back nine generations – longer than some of those Argentines who accuse us of being foreign implants. We are a proud, flourishing community. And we are a people who have rights.
“The Government of Argentina says they will respect our interests, but you will forgive us if we ask: who will define our interests? Surely only we can do so. The free and democratically expressed will of the people cannot be disregarded by Buenos Aires as an inconvenient truth.”
“We have now opened a new chapter in that history, one that looks to the future rather than the past, and focuses on building our home for future generations. We will focus on growing our economy through the sustainable management of fisheries, tourism and agriculture, and we will strive to develop our oil industry in an environmentally responsible manner. We will continue to place the highest value on health and education, and helping our young people to reach their full potential.
“The government of Argentina has sought to restrict our communications with the rest of the world, to damage our industries, and intimidate our people. But all this has achieved is to make our resolve stronger. Our freedom cannot be stolen; our human rights will not be sacrificed.
“So this week the Falkland Islands people have had their say. It is time for other nations around the world, who respect democracy and political freedoms, to stand up and lend us their support.”`

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Falklands see referendum as a new dawn

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