Kirchner claim must be taken seriously

The Spanish empire took over the Malvinas (Falklands) upon offering compensation to their first known occupant, Frenchman Louis de Bougainville, who had been there since 1764.

De Bougainville accepted.

Britain illegitimately set up its own colony there in 1765.

The latter was subsequently removed by Madrid via a flotilla of ships from the province that would become Argentina.

Spanish subjects, who after independence in 1816 would become Argentinians, then lived and worked on the Malvinas until January 3 1833, when they were ejected by force by Britain, which then colonised the Malvinas with British settlers.

So Argentina has claim to the Malvinas.

To assert a "right of self-determination" here is a mistaken application of international law.

The issue of the Malvinas must be settled diplomatically between Buenos Aires and London, as President Kirchner rightly asserts.

Brian Precious

London E17