May is a month of clear patriotic implications. We remember the foundational moment of the revolutionary process that gave place to the constitution of the First Patriotic Government, a major step in the fight against colonialism, which would be consolidated upon the Declaration of Independence in 1816. Argentina and the countries of the region were pioneers in the fight against this scourge and led the first large-scale decolonization process in the history of humanity. The victory over Spanish colonialism first, and the rejection of other armed aggressions by European States later, allowed the consolidation of the Nation project and of a free and sovereign country. However, since 1833 the Argentine Republic still suffers from a colonial situation in part of its territory as a result of the illegal British occupation that, violating the international law of the time, used force to expel the Argentine population and authorities from the Malvinas Islands to establish a colonial regime that still persists, and that our country never consented to. The decolonization process carried out by the United Nations has been one of humanity's greatest achievements during the second half of the 20th century. Putting an end to it is an imperative and an international obligation for all States.

Today there are still 17 territories pending decolonization, Malvinas is one of them, and our country will continue to rely on dialogue and international law, in accordance with the provisions of the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, to recover the full exercise of our sovereignty over the southern archipelagos and put an end, once and for all, to colonialism in all its forms, and thus put an end to this anachronism in the 21st century.

Guillermo Carmona

State Secretary for Malvinas, Antarctica and the South Atlantic