Obama, in his usual duplicitous way, reportedly told British Prime Minister David Cameron in March that the United States would refrain from publicly calling for negotiations between the British and Argentina over the matter. But now the State Department is getting involved; Acting Under Secretary for Press Affairs Mike Hammer said:
“Our policy is unchanged. We believe that this is a bilateral issue that needs to be worked out directly between Argentina and the United Kingdom. That’s what we are encouraging both sides to do … we are encouraging Argentina and the UK to work this out peacefully, to work it out through negotiations.”
This echoed Hillary Clinton’s remarks in March 2010, when she was in Argentina:
“We want very much to encourage both countries to sit down. Now, we cannot make either one do so, but we think it is the right way to proceed. So we will be saying this publicly, as I have been, and we will continue to encourage exactly the kind of discussion across the table that needs to take place.”
And State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland reiterated Clinton in February this year:
“We believe that this is a bilateral issue that needs to be worked out directly between Argentina and the United Kingdom. That’s what we are encouraging both sides to do as we head towards this anniversary… we are encouraging Argentina and the UK to work this out peacefully, to work it out through negotiations.”
