British Government has nukes in Falkland Islands, says Argentina
February 26, 2013
By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | FEBRUARY 26, 2013
Argentina accused the United Kingdom of sending submarines carrying nuclear weapons to the Falklands and thus violating international treaties that establish that this region should be nuclear free. “We are in a precarious stage of implementation of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which prohibits nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. This precarious implementation is challenged by the UK,” said Eduardo Zuain, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Argentina to the Conference on Disarmament of the UN.
Argentina also blamed the United Kingdom of an unjustified and disproportionate military presence in the South Atlantic, “which includes movement of submarines capable of carrying nuclear weapons on a nuclear-free zone.” The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took effect on April 25, 1969, is an international agreement that establishes the denuclearization of the territory of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Argentina is particularly concerned about the possibility, confirmed for the first time by the British Government in 2003, that the state was introducing nuclear weapons in the South Atlantic,” said Zuain, adding that the Argentine government deeply regrets that the United Kingdom ignores the complaints about this situation.
“We regret that the British Government has not provided clarifications requested on reported incidents. The UK has offered no information to corroborate or refute recent displacements of nuclear submarines capable of carrying nuclear weapons,” he said.
Furthermore, Zuain criticized the fact that the Falklands is among some of the world’s most militarized territories, with more than 1,500 British soldiers and 3,000 civilians. “This deployment includes the presence of a powerful naval fighter aircraft, an important center of command and control, and an electronic intelligence base that allows ‘monitoring’ of air and sea traffic in the region,” he added.
Zuain said the important British presence in disputed areas of the South Atlantic concerns not only to Argentina, “but also countries in the region and beyond, as evidenced by statements of the Ibero-American Union of Nations (UNASUR) , Mercosur, the Rio Group and the Summit of South America and Arab Countries (ASPA). ”
Argentina urged the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, to overcome the impasse in which it has been for 15 years so they can advance on different topics including the ones raised by the Government of Buenos Aires.
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