414. Telegram From the Department of State to All American Republic Diplomatic Posts, the Embassy in the United Kingdom, and the Mission to the United Nations1

325184. Subject: OASGA—Falklands Resolution Passed.

1. (LOU) In General Committee at 8:25 pm Thursday evening,2 the item long seen as potentially the GA’s most heated issue, Argentina’s draft resolution on the South Atlantic, came out of the corridors and onto the table for approval but with the heat missing. By 9:30 after a series of brief non-controversial speeches, the meeting was over and the resolution approved 21–0–7. The seven abstentions were: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad-Tobago. El Salvador and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were absent accidentally. Both had thought the resolution would not come up until Friday morning at the earliest. It will next go to the GA Plenary for a final rubber stamp of approval.

2. (LOU) According to one knowledgeable source, the Caribbeans in an effort at conciliation had planned to sit quietly and let the resolution pass unopposed by consensus. However, Panama’s OAS Ambassador called for the resolution’s approval by acclamation, a motion the Caribbeans could not support and which produced their request for a recorded vote.

3. (LOU) Argentine Foreign Minister Aguirre Lanari in presenting the resolution sounded familiar themes. He was brief and low-key however, and wound up by expressing full support for UNGA Resolu[Page 835]tion 37/9 and offering thanks to the supporters of that resolution, including the US. Over three-quarters of the resolution’s 20 sponsors made brief statements, all supportive of peaceful settlement, of UNGA Res. 37/9, and of Argentina’s claim to the Falklands. After the vote most of the abstainers spoke—but briefly and without challenging the Argentine version of events. Aguirre Lanari in thanking the GA for the resolution took special pains to thank the Caribbean states for not voting against it.

4. (C) Coming hard on the heels of the UNGA vote and the good feeling which it evoked among Latin Americans, this companion move at the OASGA should go a long way toward further clearing the air. The resolution was produced after much quiet Argentine-US negotiation over the last week during which it was clear that Argentina badly wanted US support and was willing to make major concessions.

5. (U) The text of the resolution and Ambassador Middendorf’s explanation of the US vote3 follow:

[Omitted here are the texts of the OAS resolution and Middendorf’s statement.]

Shultz
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, D820602–0235. Confidential; Immediate. Drafted by Johnson; cleared by Thompson, R.W. Drexler (ARA/USOAS), and S. Smith (ARA/SC); approved by Middendorf.
  2. November 18.
  3. The texts of Resolution 595 (XII–0/82), adopted by the OAS General Assembly on November 20, and Middendorf’s November 18 statement to the General Committee of the OAS General Assembly are printed in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents. 1982, pp. 1365 and 1364, respectively.