The United Kingdom recalls that the Falkland Islands are "British" after the breakdown of an agreement on the archipelago

MADRID, 2 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United Kingdom's Foreign Minister, James Cleverly, recalled this Thursday that the Malvinas Islands are "British" after his Argentine counterpart, Santiago Cafiero, informed him in a face-to-face meeting of the rupture of an agreement signed in 2016 between the parties on the exploitation of the archipelago.

"The Falkland Islands are British. The islanders have the right to decide their own future: they have chosen to remain an autonomous British Overseas Territory," Cleverly said on Twitter in response to another post by his counterpart on the aforementioned social network.

Cafiero has notified Cleverly in person, on the sidelines of a summit of G-20 leaders in New Delhi, India, of the rupture of the so-called 'Foradori-Duncan Pact', which was signed by Argentina during the period of President Mauricio Macri.

Argentina has proposed to resume negotiations on the issue of sovereignty. Thus, Cafiero has put on the table "an agenda of issues" that, "at least", must form part of a future negotiation, with which Buenos Aires says it is fulfilling two mandates from the UN General Assembly and the Committee on Decolonization.

The dispute over the sovereignty of the archipelago dates back to the 19th century and in 1982 involved a direct war between the two countries. Buenos Aires has traditionally been against any gesture towards London, so the 2016 pact was viewed with special suspicion, mainly on the political left.

The Ministry believes that said text "made concessions to British interests in the region and regressed notably in the just claim for sovereignty", according to government sources quoted by the Télam news agency, who denounced that the agreement opened the door to "illegal" exploitation. "of fishing or mineral resources.