Argentina's Fernandez raises Falklands with Pope Francis

BBC ^ | 18 March 2013 Last updated at 13:10 ET | BBC

[haffast]

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner says she has asked for the Pope's intervention in the Falklands dispute between her country and the UK.

Visiting the Vatican, Ms Fernandez said she had asked the Pope to promote dialogue between the two sides.

Argentine Pope Francis was elected last week and will be formally installed as pontiff at a Mass on Tuesday.

In the past he has said the Falkland Islands, a UK overseas territory, belong to Argentina.

Before Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected, the 76-year-old was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Relations between him, Ms Fernandez, and her late husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner, were tense.

"I asked for his intervention to avoid problems that could emerge from the militarization of Great Britain in the south Atlantic," Ms Fernandez told reporters after a 15-20 minute meeting and lunch with the Pope.

"We want a dialogue and that's why we asked the pope to intervene so that the dialogue is successful."

snip

[haffast]

"President Fernandez is the first head of state to be received by the new Pope"

Argentine Peronists claim Pope Francis as one of their own
irishtimes.com ^ | March 19, 2013 | TOM HENNIGAN
Posted on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 2:45:30 AM by Tailgunner Joe
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2998712/posts

[Dudoight]

I think the residents of the Falklands should be the ones to decide this. 90% will vote to stay British.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

I think they recently had a rfeferfendum and about 95% said they wanted to stay under the UK. The Argentina Government said the wishes of the residents was irrelevant.

[rktman]

I thought I remembered reading that the referendum was 99%. But who cares what the people want anyway? Why should they get to choose just because they live there. Just as long as the hbic gets what she wants.

[wideawake]

This is Kirchner trying to belittle and taint a man whom she hates.

For her to drag politics into her first meeting with the first Argentine pope is unspeakably low.

If his opinion, as an Argentine, is that the Falklands are rightfully Argentine territory it is quite understandable.

As long as he does not advocate violence or overturning the popular will of the Falklanders, he is entitled to feel that way.

Shame on her. What a crass, self-serving worm.

[Vigilanteman]

Actually, it was only 99.8% of the Falklanders who recently voted to remain British.

If the Argentina Government thinks the wishes of the residents was irrelevant, how is the Pope going to reconcile that with past Papal statements supporting the right of self-determination?

[Servant of the Cross]

Falklands Votes Shows Residents (1514 to 3) Want to Stay British

[Eric in the Ozarks]

95 percent already did.

[Dr. Sivana]

Ah, just invoke the Treaty of Tordesillas and give ‘em to Spain.

[Da Coyote]

What is it about leftists that links them with virtually 100% correlation to sleezebags?

[Da Coyote]

Hopefully, no one thinks I’m associating the pope with my comments above. I was referring ONLY to the leftist sleezebag heading Argentina.

[Vigilanteman]

Very interesting timeline detail for the Falklands dispute.

Long story short is that it dates back five centuries or so.

The French were first to colonize the islands, then the British.

The Argentines claimed that they colonized the islands in 1822 after their declaration of independence from Spain. This is where their claim is based. But close examination shows the following:

1. The colonization was opportunistic based on the Monroe Doctrine which specifically excluded Europeans from setting up any new colonies on the American continent.
   
2. Argentina used said loophole to claim they were the rightful successors to Spain and, at the same time, they were exempt from the Monroe Doctrine since they were not a European power. Clever and maybe even technically correct except that:
   
3. Argentina's colonization was never anything more than seasonal gauchos hunting wild cattle and other game to establish said claim.
   
4. Both British and American whaling expeditions had been doing the same thing for the decades before the Argentine gauchos got involved.
   
5. Indeed, on more than one occasion when the gauchos stayed too long into the season and would have perished through starvation, it was American or British whaling ships which rescued them and took them back to the mainland.
   
6. Whaling was a HUGE business at this time and it was only the British and Americans which had the technological capability to move ships to and from the Falklands for most of the year.
   
7. Nobody really cares about the gauchos doing seasonal hunting on the Falklands because British and American vessels are doing the same thing, the only difference being the type of game sought.
   
8. Said situation continues for seven years until, in 1829, Argentina declares sole sovereignty over the islands, a move immediately met with diplomatic protests by both the United States and Great Britain.
   
9. Hunting pretty much goes on as it always has for the next 18 months or so. Then Argentina decides to up the ante by stationing a military garrison on the island.
   
10. The first American whaling vessel Harriett is seized on 30 July 1831. Other seizures follow of both American and British vessels.
    
11. The United States responds mostly with diplomatic protests, having little navy to enforce its claims. The British respond the same way but also ink agreements with Brazil to station naval vessels in Rio de Janeiro.
    
12. Two of these vessels, the HMS Clio and HMS Tyne leave port on November 29, 1832 with orders to visit the Falklands.
    
13. Whether in response to rumors or just coincidence, the Argentine garrison revolts and kills their commander the following day. The second in command is reluctant to take charge (for obvious reasons) which leaves no formal authority when the British arrive.
    
14. An American whaler has transported a number of the mutinous garrison out of Dodge before the British arrive.
    
15. Lt. Col. Pinedo, the ranking surviving officer, is finally able to restore order among the remaining garrison.
    
16. On January 3, 1833, the Brits lower the Argentine flag and raise the Union Jack without resistance. The triband ensign is folded with due respect and returned to the Sardini (Argentine civil authority) with a message that the British had found; "a foreign flag in the territory of His Majesty. Pinedo can do nothing but protest.
    
17. Interestingly, the Argentine gauchos have little love for their military government and all except four accept British cash payments to remain. They later pledge allegiance to the British crown and become the nucleus of the new Falklands settlement bolstered by later arriving immigrants from Scotland and Ireland.
    
18. The Sardini departs with all those who wish to leave on January 5.
    
19. The British do likewise on January 10, leaving behind William Dickson, an Irishman in charge of the ship's store houses, as the civil authority in the colony.
    
20. Of course, the Argentina government is furious when word of these events reaches Buenos Aires with the Sardini, garrison and handful of gauchos who wanted to return. They launch a diplomatic protest and call upon the American to invoke the Monroe Doctrine. The Americans basically tell them to pound sand, being happy to revoke to the pre-1831 situation where they will be allowed to hunt and fish in the seas around the Falkland Islands without interference.
    
21. The neutered Argentines basically have to amuse themselves by putting on trial the ringleaders of the garrison muntiny of November 30 and standing a number of them before firing squads. Lt. Col. Pinedo merely gets a demotion for not offering sufficient resistance.

[itsahoot]

I think the residents of the Falklands should be the ones to decide this. 90% will vote to stay British.

Actually they voted already and it was 98%.

[Smartisan]

Quick off the mark. Running her country has gone to the dogs so she had some spare time to grab a quick chat with the new man.

As a Brit, lets direct another T-class nuke down their way just to be sure it doesn’t kick off. A few photo-ops as the sub surfaces within sight of FI should do the job nicely.