I have just received from New York and am letting you have in strict
confidence the enclosed unofficial translation of the Argentine paper
handed to us by the UN
Secretary-General’s staff this morning.
As you will see, the Argentine paper falls well short of the proposals we
asked the Secretary General to convey to the Argentinians on 17 May. In
particular it contains no language on the question of not pre-judging
sovereignty or the outcome of negotiations. It insists on the inclusion
of the dependencies in an interim agreement. So far as the interim
administration is concerned, there is no reference to the traditional
representative institutions of the islanders, but a proposal that the
UN Administrator might appoint as
advisers equal numbers of Argentine and British residents on the
islands, despite the fact that the former number no more than 30 in a
population of 1800. The proposals would also render it possible for the
Argentine authorities to flood the islands with Argentinian residents
during the interim period. In short, the Argentines have reverted to the
negotiating position they adopted at the beginning of the UN Secretary General’s initiative.
As usual I am available for discussions whenever you want.
Attachment
Unofficial Translation Prepared in the United
Nations Secretariat4
TEXT OF THE UN
SECRETARIAT’S UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARGENTINE PAPER PASSED
TO THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL ON 18
MAY
The Government of the Argentine Republic and the Government of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, hereinafter
referred to as “the parties”,
In response to the provisions of Security Council Resolution 502
(1982) of 3 April 1982, and taking into account the Charter of the
United Nations, Resolution 1514 (XV), 2065 (XX) and other
Resolutions of the General Assembly on the question of the Malvinas
(Falkland) Islands, have accepted, in accordance with Article 40 of
the Charter of the United Nations, the assistance of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations and have engaged in
negotiations and arrived at the following provisional agreement
relating to the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands,
hereinafter referred to as “the Islands” for the purposes of this
agreement.
I.1. The geographical scope of the area within which the withdrawal
of troops is to be carried out shall comprise the Malvinas, South
Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.
I.2. The withdrawal of the forces of both parties shall be gradual
and simultaneous. Within a maximum period of thirty days, all armed
forces shall be in their normal bases and areas of operation.
II. With effect from the signature of this agreement, each party
shall cease to apply the economic measures which it has adopted
against the other and the United Kingdom shall call for the same
action by those countries or groups of countries which, at its
request, adopted similar measures.
III.1. Supervision of the withdrawal of the forces of both countries
shall be carried out by specialized personnel of the United Nations,
whose composition shall be agreed with the parties.
[Page 577]
III.2. The interim administration of the Islands while the
negotiations for final settlement of the dispute are in progress
shall conform to the following provisions:
(a) the administration shall be exclusively the responsibility of the
United Nations with an appropriate presence of observers of the
parties.
(b) The said administration shall perform all functions (executive,
legislative, judicial and security) through officials of different
nationality from that of the parties.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of 2(a) and (b), and in order not
to cause unnecessary changes in the way of life of the population
during the period of the interim administration by the United
Nations, local judicial functions may be exercised in accordance
with the legislation in force on 1 April 1982 to the full extent
compatible with this agreement.
Similarly, the United Nations interim administration may appoint as
advisers persons who are members of the population of British origin
and Argentines resident in the Islands, in equal numbers.
(d) The flags of the parties shall fly together with that of the
United Nations.
(e) During the period of interim administration, communications shall
be kept open, without discriminatory restrictions of any kind for
the parties, including freedom of movement and equality of access
with respect to residence, work and property.
(f) Freedom of communication shall also include the maintenance of
freedom of transit for the state airline (LADE) and for merchant ships and scientific vessels: in
addition, telephone, telegraph and telex communications, Argentine
television transmissions and the state petroleum (YPF) and gas services shall continue
to operate freely.
IV. The customs, traditions and way of life of the inhabitants of the
Islands, and their social and cultural links with their countries of
origin, shall be respected and safeguarded.
V.1. The parties undertake to enter immediately into negotiations in
good faith under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations for the peaceful and final settlement of the dispute and,
with a sense of urgency, to complete these negotiations by 31
December 1982, with a single option to extend until 30 June 1983, in
order to comply with the Charter of the United Nations, Resolutions
1514 (XV), 2065 (XX) and other relevant Resolutions of the General
Assembly on the question of the Malvinas Islands. These negotiations
shall be initiated without prejudice to the rights and claims or
positions of the two parties and in recognition of the fact that
they have divergent positions on the question of the Malvinas, South
Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.
[Page 578]
V.2. The negotiations shall be held in New York.
V.3. The Secretary-General of the United Nations may be assisted in
the negotiations by a contact group composed of representatives of
four states members of the United Nations.
To that end, each party shall nominate two states and shall have the
right to a single veto of one of the states nominated by the
other.
V.4. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall keep the
Security Council assiduously informed of the progress of the
negotiations.
VI. If the period specified in point V (1) above expires without the
attainment of a final agreement, the Secretary-General shall draw up
a report addressed to the General Assembly of the United Nations, in
order that the latter may determine, as appropriate and with the
greatest urgency, the lines to which the said final agreement should
conform in order to achieve a speedy settlement of the question.
