An Exclusive Report for FIBS by Sue Gyford 28/10/03

Michael Portillo (MP) has told News Direct that he is amazed that the Falklands conflict still overshadows relationships between Argentina and Britain. The former Defence Secretary was a delegate to the Argentine/British Conference in Buenos Aires, which finished yesterday. In an interview, he told us he was keen to see cultural, commercial, and tourism ties established between the two sides. And, he was frustrated that the relationship was still affected by the strength of feeling over the conflict. Here, he discusses in more detail his experiences of the conference.

MP: What I’ve been saying to the conference, I think is not of particular interest to the Falkland Islands because I was asked to give a view from Britain, so I have really been talking about what life in Britain is like nowadays. And, I have also given them some background on issues that concern Britain most, which, I suppose are our relationship with Europe and with the wish to join the Euro and, of course, our participation in the war against Iraq.

The conference itself, however, had one section, which was dedicated to the position in the South Atlantic. And, as you probably know, a couple of Falkland Islanders have been present in all our sessions.

SG: And, what have you heard said about it?

MP: In one sense, there’s been no change in anybody’s position. Certainly the Argentines (although most of them have been rather tactful in not bringing it up front) have not in any way changed their position – their aspirations of sovereignty over the Islands. And, certainly, the British, and that includes every person who’s there from Britain has given no ground whatsoever in continuing to assert the paramount of the views and wishes of the Falkland Islands people.

However, I think the atmosphere has been more positive than that brief description might lead you to believe. This is not least because the two Falkland Islanders, Tony Blake and Terry Betts, who were present, were prepared to talk about all sorts of ways in which there could be confidence building measures – particularly between the Falkland Islands and Argentina. And, that seemed to create a good atmosphere and to be generally quite welcome.

SG: You mentioned confidence building measures and I know there’s been a lot of talk about increasing cultural ties between Argentina and the Falklands. Do you think that’s something that can be done, given the strength of feeling that is still in the Islands? And, do you think that can be isolated from the sovereignty issue?

MP: I think it certainly can be isolated from the sovereignty issue. I can’t judge whether that is possible, given the strength of feeling in the Islands. What I would say is that although, in many ways, Britain’s relationship with Argentina is a good one, for instance, our Prime Minister has visited Argentina, the Argentine President has recently been in Britain. It is extraordinary the extent to which the conflict of 21 years ago still casts a shadow over that relationship. Let me just give you one example of that. The meeting that we had here is an unofficial one. For instance, the British Ambassador doesn’t attend our meetings. When you think that it is 21 years, and I think 21 years after the Second World War you couldn’t really argue that in 1966, Britain’s relationship with Germany was over-shadowed by the war, even though that had been a very terrible and a very long war. So, whilst apparently there is normalisation of the relationship between Britain and Argentina, it strikes me as amazing at the extent to which we have not been able to make much progress because of the shadow of this sovereignty issue. Now, clearly, it’s possible to build confidence between Britain and Argentina. In many ways, our relationship is back to normal. The sorts of things that are being proposed in Argentina and in the Falkland Islands have to do with, as you say, cultural exchanges, sporting exchanges, tourism, and just plain trade – whether goods can go backwards and forwards between the two. Now, all of those to me seem to be perfectly normal things. And, that doesn’t, in any way, touch upon the sovereignty issue. But, as I say, only the Falkland Islanders can judge whether that is possible.

SG: Are you saying that you think the Islanders should be moving on?

MP: It’s not really for me to lecture the Islanders. They went through a traumatic experience in the invasion. So, it’s really not for me to lecture and tell Islanders what they should be ready to do or not. What I would say is that in most places in the world where there is conflict and the aftermath of conflict, what people try to do is to put to one side the issue of the conflict itself – in this case, the issue is sovereignty. Put that to one side. There is no change in the British position – I don’t suppose any change in the Falkland Islanders’ position – and certainly no change in the Argentine position. Put that to one side and concentrate on things that neighbours do together. I can’t see why there couldn’t be more interchange between the Falkland Islanders and Argentina. You do share regional space. But, as I say, that’s for Falkland Islanders to decide and to consider.

SG: You mentioned there were a couple of Islanders there but they were there more or less under their own steam. What do you think of the Falkland Islands Councillors decision not to attend?

MP: I think I respect that decision. I think it was rather a neat solution that Falkland Islands Council wouldn’t want to be represented. That avoids embarrassment for the Falkland Islands Council. It also, I suppose, avoids embarrassment for the Argentines because it is a bilateral meeting, not a trilateral meeting.

But I think everybody found it of immense value that the two Islanders were there. They made a very positive contribution to the meeting. In a way, it'’ a good indication in itself that the Argentines accepted representation at the meeting, albeit unofficial, from Falkland Islanders, given that it is a bilateral meeting and not a trilateral meeting. And, I certainly think that the interchange that there is personally between some leading Argentine figures, although they are not presently in Government, and some leading Falklands figures, although they are not presently in Government. I think all of that is part of building a relationship.

The conference is finished. It finished in a good atmosphere. It wasn’t by any means all about the South Atlantic question about the Islands. It was mainly about relations between Argentina. And, I would say, actually, it was mainly about Argentina because Argentina is not surprisingly pretty much obsessed with its own political position and its economic position, following the disastrous results the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002.

So, I think Argentina actually find it quite difficult to raise its sites to other global problems. For example, we didn’t have much discussion about Iraq which, in a way, is quite surprising. But there was a session dealing especially with the South Atlantic. I think that’s largely because the Argentines find it very difficult to have a meeting where they didn’t put that on the agenda. But there was no expectation of Argentina, in having it on the agenda, would have any movement from the British position. What I think they were encouraged to think of more than before was the way which there can be some normalisation in relationships and confidence building between Argentina and the Islands.

SG: Would you like to attend another one of these conferences?

MP: I don’t know about that. I have certainly enjoyed it. It was actually quite a small conference. So, one of the reasons why I would hesitate to accept another invitation is that there is the opportunity somebody else from the British Political scene to attend in my place. And, I think that’s a very good thing. We don’t quite honestly, in Britain, think about Argentina very much. And, we don’t have to think about the Falklands very much. I mean, it’s a settled matter and it goes on. So, I think it’s a welcome opportunity for British Politicians to consider relations with Argentina to consider the position of the Falkland Islands – what’s going there, what life is like, how the Falklands’ own economy is progressing. That’s an opportunity that should be shared around British politicians.

(100X Transcription Service)