“We’re not stupid. We don’t need to use sport to stand up for our rights.
We’ll defend our rights in appropriate forums, like the UN.”
Mrs Kirchner addressed the UN’s decolonisation committee recently in a bid to
force Britain to negotiate sovereignty of the Falklands.
The Coalition says it will not talk with Argentina about the future of the
disputed islands, the site of a 74-day war in 1982 that claimed the lives of
nearly 1,000 men.
David Cameron approached Mrs Kirchner at last week’s G20 meeting to ask her to
respect a referendum on the islands’ “political status”, which the
Falklanders will hold next year.
Mrs Kirchner responded by handing Mr Cameron an envelope containing 40 UN
resolutions, which he refused to accept.
During her speech at the presidential palace, Mrs Kirchner also praised an
advert broadcast last month by her government that shows an Argentine hockey
player training on a British First World War memorial in the Falklands,
which it claims is “English soil”.
“It doesn’t matter who got angry about the spot. I thought it was divine,
important and creative.”
The protagonist of the advert, Fernando Zylberberg, was dropped from the
Olympic squad.
More than 100 Argentine athletes will compete in London. Rumours had
circulated they would wear kit bearing the image of the Falklands, but the
islands did not feature on the team tracksuit revealed last night.
Meanwhile, the Argentine sports minister, Claudio Moressi, had an article
published yesterday under the title: “At the Olympics we will also ask for
peace to be given a chance”.
Argentina accused Britain of “militarising” the South Atlantic after it sent
HMS Dauntless to patrol the Falklands.
Mr Moressi highlights the fact that Argentina will be participating in the
London Games 30 years after the Falklands War, saying the country will never
“give up its claim” to the islands.
The Olympic Committee says the Games should not be used as a platform for
political gestures.
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