The Sun places Falklands ad in Argentine paper
The Sun has placed an ad in the Buenos Aires Herald newspaper a day after Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner bought ads of her own in UK press calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to relinquish control of the Falkland Islands.
The British tabloid’s ad, presented as an open letter addressed to Fernandez and published in both English and Spanish, admonishes the President’s ad and calls on Argentina to keep its “hands off” the islands.
It recalls the Falklands War, which took place 31 years ago and saw the loss of 255 British service personnel, 649 Argentinian troops and three civilians.
The ad also says Argentina’s invasion of the Islands was in direct conflict with the United Nations charter’s principle of self-determination and that British sovereignty on the Islands dates back to 1765 – “before the Republic of Argentina even existed”.
The Buenos Aires Herald is read by 50,000 people in Argentina’s capital, The Sun claims. The ad, which appeared on page five of the paper, was booked directly and designed by The Sun’s in-house media team.
Yesterday (3 January) Fernandez placed an open letter to David Cameron in The Guardian and The Independent demanding the Falklands be returned to Argentina.
The president’s ad claimed the Islands, which the South American country refers to as the Malvinas, had been “forcibly stripped” from Argentina by Britain 180 years ago in what it claims was a “blatant exercise of 19th Century colonialism”.
A referendum is set to take place in March, in which islanders will decide on the Falklands’ status.
David Cameron said yesterday (3 January): “I hope the president of Argentina will listen and recognise it is for the people to choose”.
