02 January 2018

Información para la Prensa N°: 001/18

On 3 January 1833, the Malvinas Islands, an integral part of the Argentine national territory, were illegally occupied by military forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Argentine Republic, as the legitimate heir to the archipelagos and maritime areas in the South Atlantic that had belonged to Spain, expressed through government acts its strong will to recover its effective sovereignty over them.

The First Temporary Provision of the Argentine Constitution establishes the permanent and non-renounceable objective of recovering full exercise of sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime spaces, in accordance with the principles of international law and respecting the way of life of the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands. This objective is a State policy and embodies an aspiration of the entire Argentine people.

The United Nations recognize that the Malvinas Islands are subjected to a colonial situation (resolution 2065 (XX) 1965 of the General Assembly), and acknowledge the existence of a sovereignty dispute that must be solved through bilateral negotiations between the two States involved, taking into account the interests of the population of the islands.

The Argentine Republic continues to receive support in favour of its rights from the MERCOSUR Member and Associate States, the UNASUR, and the CELAC. Likewise, other multilateral and regional fora, such as the OAS, the Group of 77 and China, ASPA, ASA, and the Ibero-American Summit, request the resumption of negotiations.

On this date, the Argentine people and Government once again reaffirm the imprescriptible and inalienable sovereignty rights of the Argentine Republic over the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.