A group of elected assembly members from the Falkland Islands presented an address to the United Nations Special Committee on the situation regarding the implementation of the declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples. Below is the speech by MLA Teslyn Barkman, elected member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly. Madam Chair, excellencies, distinguished guests, I’m Teslyn, a 7th generation Falkland Islander and politician with responsibility for natural resources, democratically elected under the 2009 constitution of the Falkland Islands.
Our culture is rooted in farming our rural areas, which are called ‘Camp’, derived from ‘Campo’, one of several nods to our gaucho/Patagonian history. We have families today descended from those Argentina claim were kicked out in 1833. Our resolute free will is simply what is not tolerated by our neighbors.
My family had been Falkland Islanders for over 100 years before Argentina first made their claim to the UN. Over this time, Argentina had also published maps that didn’t include the Falklands as ‘theirs’. History can’t be rewritten.
We have done more for the world than many would realize. Supporting global trade and ship repair for those crossing Cape Horn. And, during World War 1, it was a local woman who spotted an incoming naval ambush that gave allies time to counter, granting a turning point in the war.
Following the trauma of 1982, our people moved to a modern relationshi.