Kirchner
Calls Brits
Hypocrites, UK
Appears with
Sheep Farmer,
No
Man Island
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 14, updated
twice
-- When
Argentina's
President
Cristina
Fernández
de
Kirchner took
the floor in
Conference
Room 4 of the
UN's North
Lawn
building
Thursday
afternoon, the
crowd was
Latin heavy
and ready to
applaud. The
topic was the
Islas Malvinas
a/k/a the
Falkland
Islands
and Kirchner
was in fine
form.
She
read from
what she said
was a
"non-paper" or
secret
negotiating
document from
1974. She
accused the UK
of hypocrisy,
refusing
dialogue about
the Islands
while claiming
commitment to
human rights.
Her
speech moved
from Angela
Merkel to
Hiroshima; she
asked how the
US would like
seeing its
flag under
that of Japan.
When she
finished there
was a
long applause,
and she shook
hands with,
among others,
Syria's
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari.
Later
up on the
North Lawn
building's
second floor
stakeout,
Inner City
Press asked
UK Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant about
the
"non-paper,"
and more
specifically
for his
response to a
theory that
with
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon naming
Argentines as
chief of staff
(Susana
Malcorra) and
head of Middle
East (Oscar
Fernandez
Taranco),
the UK has
been losing
traction.
Lyall
Grant said
it is hard to
respond to a
1974 document,
but that the
failed talks
then showed
that the
Argentines
wants to go
over the heads
of the
residents and
get the
Islands
returned to
Argentina.
He
said that all
UN officials
are
international
civil
servants.
Inner City
Press asked
about
consistent and
well-sourced
reports, which
Inner City
Press
first
exclusively
published,
that the
Argentines
have been
conferring
with "their"
Assistant
Secretary
General Oscar
Fernandez
Taranco. Lyall
Grant said,
you'll have to
ask them. We
will.
Afterward
Inner
City Press
spoke with a
sixth
generation
Falksland
Islander,
James
Marsh, before
he went on the
show "Five
Live." He said
he's
raising 15,000
sheep, and
that Islanders
go to Chile
for medical
care.
Inner
City Press
asked him, hablas
espanol?
He said, in
English,
enough to go
to
restaurants. Vaya.
Footnote:
Downstairs
Syrian
Permanent
Representative
Ja'afari was
responding to
questions
about no fly
zones and
humanitarian
corridors, and
a
question about
his daughter
that he called
unethical and
unfair. He
said that
Saudi Arabia
and Qatar are
arming the
opposition.
When
Inner
City Press
looks into and
writes about
this, it gets
accused of
drinking
"Ja'afari
juice." But
where do
the weapons
come
from? Watch
this site.
Update
of
8:45 pm; 10 am
June 15 -- the
UK mission
sent this out
in parts:
Inner
City
Press: In her
speech the
president of
Argentina read
what she
called a non
paper or a
secret
document, she
said it was a
negotiation
document, so I
wanted to
know, what did
you think of
that. Is it an
authentic
document and
what your
response to it
is?
And for
Ambassador
Lyall Grant,
this is sort
of a UN
question. Some
have said, and
you may reject
this, that now
that the
Secretary-General
has appointed
and Argentine
National as
his Chief
of Staff. You
have Oscar
Fernandez-Taranco
of Argentina
as a major
player in the
Department of
Political
Affairs, that
somehow
Argentina
is getting
more traction
on this issue
in the UN. I
wanted to know
whether,
you’re here,
and you would
know, is there
anything to
that?
Mike
Summers
OBE, Member of
the Falkland
Island
Legislative
Assembly: I
think it’s
better that
the Ambassador
answers the
question about
a
document that
allegedly came
from the
British
government in
1974.
Mark
Lyall
Grant – Thank
you. I can’t
comment in
detail on that
document that
was read out
by President
Kirchner this
afternoon, but
what I can say
is that the
exploratory
discussions
that were held
in
the 1970s,
between the
United Kingdom
and Argentina
only
reinforced
the view that
their options
that were
being
discussed were
not
compatible
with the
principle of
self-determination.
And they were
not therefore
pursued. Of
course much
changed also
when Argentina
illegally
invaded the
Falkland
Islands in
1982. On the
second
question, no.
I don’t want
to comment on
individual
nationality of
senior UN
officials. All
UN officials
are officials
of the United
Nations and
their loyalty
is to the
United
Nations, not
to the
country of
origin, so I
don’t think
that that is
relevant to
this
discussion.
Q
- (indistinct)
gave the
briefing with
various video
presentations
in
the Dag
Hammarskjold
Library. I’m
asking only
because I
actually
heard that
here were some
interplay with
their visiting
delegation
and an
Argentine DPA
staff member.
Mark
Lyall
Grant – You’d
have to ask
them that. I’m
not aware of
that....
Inner
City
Press: The
President of
Argentina said
in a, I took
it as a kind
of a mocking
voice, she
said, if a
country won’t
even engage in
dialogue than
how can it
claim to be
for human
rights and
then she
listed a few
other, sort
of, grand
principles of
the UN. Do you
just
see that as
rhetoric or is
this something
you take to
heart, that
this is
somehow
inconsistent
with what the
UK does in all
the other
things you’re
talking about,
whether it’s
Syria, Libya,
and other
things. Is
there some
inconsistency,
or is she just
trying to stir
something up
with that?
Mark
Lyall
Grant – I
think it is
just largely
rhetoric. We
have made
clear that we
are very
willing to
talk to the
Argentineans
over a
wide range of
issues. What
we are not
prepared to do
is sit down
and
negotiate
sovereignty
over the head
of the people
of the
Falklands
Islands,
because as
you’ve heard
today the
principle of
self
determination
is absolutely
at the heart
of our
position on
the
Falkland
Islands and
frankly it is
a little bit
hypocritical
of the
President to
be talking
about the
United Kingdom
refusing
dialogue
when she has
refused to
listen
directly to
the views of
the
Representatives
of the
Falkland
Islands. She
wasn’t in the
room
when they made
their
statements and
I don’t think
she received
the
letter that
was handed
over by them,
but Mike, you
may want to
add to
that?
Mike
Summers
OBE::
Sorry
Ambassador.
She was in the
room when we
made our
statement so
she did hear
that. She
didn’t respond
to any of
them. We did
attempt to
hand a letter
to the
President
today
following on
from
statements
made by
Ambassador
Timmerman in
the last week,
saying that
he was
prepared to
sit down and
listen. We
sent a letter
to the
government of
Argentina from
the government
of the
Falkland
Islands
suggesting
that sitting
down an
listening
would be a
very good
thing
to do an d we
would be very
happy to
engage in that
so I think
there’s a
certain amount
of dual
standards
here. The
President of
Argentina only
really want to
get herself
engaged in
negotiations
that involve
the transfer
of
sovereignty.
What she
really doesn’t
want to do is
get involved
in
negotiations
with the
people of the
Falkland
Islands.
, 
