Britain derided a new Argentine banknote featuring the disputed Malvinas Islands as a stunt today and said it had no intention of discussing sovereignty over the archipelago with Buenos Aires.
Argentina has issued a new 50-peso banknote this month described by the central bank as a reminder of the South American country’s «undying claim» to Malvinas.
The new 50-peso bill pays tribute to Argentina’s sovereignty over the resource-rich archipelago, under the slogan “Malvinas Islands. A sovereign love.” The note has been designed and produced by the Mint House, presenting in the obverse the image of the map of the South Atlantic territories and another map of Latin America and the Caribbean, alluding to the support Argentina has rallied among regional nations in its long-standing sovereignty dispute against London.
«On the issue of the 50-peso banknote, we can’t stop the Argentinian government from these stunts,» Hugo Swire, a minister of state at the British Foreign Office, said when asked about the note in parliament.
«It’s worth a whopping 3.72 pounds ($6) according to today’s exchange rate,» he added. «And I think it probably has the equivalent political value.»
Swire said the Argentine embassy had recently sent a book and a letter to the British parliament, complaining about a lack of dialogue on sovereignty.
«It (the book) ignores the inconvenient truth that some people on the islands can trace their Falklands (Malvinas) ancestry back through nine generations, longer than the current borders of Argentina have existed,» said Swire.
There would be no sovereignty talks with Argentina in line with the islanders’ own wishes, he added.
buenosairesherald.com