CFK asks Ban Ki-Moon to middle in Malvinas claim

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner renewed the Argentine claim of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who’s visiting the country on his birthday.

The Head of State urged the UN head to ask England to resume discussions with Argentina over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago that includes the Malvinas, the Georgia and the Sandwich islands.

Argentina’s claim of sovereignty over the Malvinas Island dominated the talks with the Secretary who is rallying for support for a second term candidacy as the head of the UN.

The President reminded Ban Ki-Moon that “Argentina, once more, expresses today its desire of having England accept the UN resolution that urges both parties to sit at the negotiating table.”

Likewise, Fernández de Kirchner praised the UN organization and considered it “the common home of all democratic countries that intend to solve discrepancies” in a peaceful way.

The Head of State also welcomed “Ban Ki-Moon's bid for re-election as the head of the UN,” and apologized for the inconvenience caused due to the Puyehue volcano ash cloud that forced his flight to land in Córdoba city, from where he was driven to Buenos Aires.

The UN Secretary visited the former ESMA Navy School of Mechanics, which worked as a clandestine detention centre during Argentina’s last dictatorship, and took partt in an assembly with Human Rights Secretary Eduardo Luis Duhalde.

At the end of the day, Ban Ki-Moon will give a speech at the Foreign Ministry.

Tomorrow; Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman will host a gala lunch in honor of Ban Ki-Moon, who will then fly to Montevideo, Uruguay. The trip is part of a South American tour that also includes Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil.