The recently published memoirs of Sir Alan Duncan, UK Foreign Secretary for the Americas between 2016 and 2019, make new claims about a “historic” agreement between Britain and Argentina that has been heavily criticized by the current left-wing government in Buenos Aires.Tensions between the United Kingdom and Argentina increased recently after Declassified revealed that Britain deployed 31 nuclear weapons in the South Atlantic during the 1982 war.The two countries are commemorating the 40th anniversary of the conflict, which took place between April and June of that year. Relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina had “improved” after the right-wing government of Mauricio Macri took power in Buenos Aires in late 2015.

Veteran Conservative MP Alan Duncan took over as foreign minister shortly afterwards, in July 2016, and within two months was in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. In his memoirs, In the Thick of It Duncan notes that on September 12, his first day in the city, he met the “excellent” new UK ambassador to Argentina , Mark Kent . “Under the residence of the [British] embassy there is a fabulous wine cellar, very well lit, with the walls lined with bottles of Merlot,” Duncan continued. “The setting is quite pleasant for a meeting and we met there with Carlos Foradori, the vice minister of Foreign Affairs.” “It was a good diplomatic backdrop for the delicate negotiations to secure additional flights to the Malvinas; For millions of reasons, the cooperation of Argentina is required for any connection that passes through land,” Duncan added. “As bottle after bottle moved from the cellar wall to the table, the negotiations improved. At around 2 in the morning we shook hands with a general agreement.”

“So drunk”

The next morning, September 13, Duncan wrote: “ Mark Kent says that Foradori just phoned to say that he was so drunk last night that he couldn't remember all the details. Like a true Brit, Mark reminded him what had happened. agreed, faithfully and without embellishment. So I think we are still on the right track.”

Carlos Foradori refuted Duncan 's recollection of the events at the winery, telling Declassified "what he describes there is completely fanciful." Forador i, a diplomat with 40 years of experience who is currently awaiting assignment, said the joint statement is “too long to have been formulated in one night.”

He added that the different levels of authorization required within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “prevent any official or diplomat from being able to arbitrarily decide on any issue, particularly one as sensitive as that of the Malvinas [Malvinas].” And he added: “Each issue analyzed in the declaration needed to be subsequently validated in formal agreements.” Mark Kent , who is now chief executive of the Scotch Whiskey Association, did not respond to Declassified 's questions about the September 2016 night in his embassy cellar.

“Historic agreement”

Later, during his second day in Buenos Aires, Duncan added: “At the Argentina Investment Forum meeting I had a brief meeting with President Macri, who gave his blessing to our efforts.” He concluded: “We went up a step since last night to carry out new (sober) negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Susana Malcorra, which lasted until the last minute. There were moments where it seemed that we were not going to reach an agreement, but we came out with the first positive joint declaration since 1999, covering trade, security and opening of new airlines to the Malvinas. A truly historic agreement.” The UK government was quick to report that “a joint statement has been agreed between the UK and Argentina following a series of high-level meetings in Buenos Aires.New areas of collaboration are identified and high-level bilateral consultations are reactivated.”

He added: “ Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Foradori and Minister Duncan held bilateral conversations in which the main issues on the bilateral agenda were reviewed.” Ten areas of further cooperation were stipulated.

Por Agenda Malvinas