Argentina condemns UK’s Queen Elizabeth Land move
Argentina has protested against Britain’s imperialistic move to name a large area of Antarctica, which has long been claimed by the South American nation as its own, as Queen Elizabeth Land.
Argentina’s protest came in the form of a note to British ambassador in Buenos Aires John Freeman, criticizing Britain’s “anachronistic imperialist ambitions that hark back to ancient practices.”
The formal note also included Argentina’s “firmest rejection of the recently announced pretension of the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of naming an area of the Argentine Antarctic sector.”
The Argentinean government accused London of breaking the terms of the Antarctic treaty that was signed in 1959 in Washington DC by 50 nations, including Britain and Argentina, to safeguard the Antarctic from territorial disputes by guaranteeing freedom of scientific investigation and banning military activity on the continent.
The land Britain now named Queen Elizabeth Land has long been claimed by Argentina as its own.
The Antarctic territory was named after the British Queen as a gift from the Home Office to mark her Diamond Jubilee during her unusual cabinet meeting appearance on December 18.
The land renamed after the Queen is almost double the size of Britain at 169,000 square miles.
Argentina claims Britain has also illegally occupied several others of its territories in the South Atlantic including the South Georgias, Sandwich islands and the Malvinas [Falkland Islands] that Buenos Aires claims Britain has illegally occupied.
