§ 11. Mr. David Borrow (South Ribble)If he will make a statement on recent discussions between his Department and the Government of Chile. [74917]
§ The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Robin Cook)Since the arrest of Senator Pinochet, my hon. Friend the Minister of State and I have had a number of meetings with the Chilean Foreign Minister, Deputy Foreign Minister and ambassador.
Mr. Insulza, the Foreign Minister, and I have agreed that our common objective should be to preserve the sound and long-standing relations between our two countries. In all our discussions, I have made it clear that the extradition procedures are subject to legal process, and that it would be improper of us to interfere with it.
§ Mr. BorrowDoes my right hon. Friend agree that we should welcome the closer economic links that have been formed between Chile and the Falkland islands in recent years? Does he also welcome the visit by the Prince of Wales to the region? Will he join me in rejecting criticism, over the past few days, by elements in the right-wing press of the Prince of Wales and his comments in support of democracy?
§ Mr. CookI absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I find it extraordinary that the Prince of Wales should be subject to criticism for a message of reconciliation, in which he stood by the democracy of the people of the Falkland islands. I hope that everyone in Britain can at least welcome those remarks as strongly as did the Foreign Minister of Argentina.
§ Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)Is it not the case that if his Royal Highness Prince Charles had been able to go to his originally planned destination—Chile—and that if Lan Chile were to be able to continue direct flights from Punta Arenas to the Falkland islands, the situation in the southern cone would be a great deal better?
As the right hon. Gentleman and Her Majesty's Ministers are unable to go to Chile in person to find out the situation for themselves, could they not at least take 880 the advice of someone who has been to Chile—His Holiness the Pope, who knows the region, but who has much greater wisdom and magnanimity than the right hon. Gentleman?
§ Mr. CookFirst, the visit to Argentina by the Prince of Wales had been planned since 1994 and is certainly the place that the Prince of Wales wished to go, and that was achieved. He also visited the Falkland islands, and it is to his credit that he wanted to include them on the tour. The letter from the Vatican has not been released by the Vatican, and it is not our custom to release letters pertaining to foreign relations. However, it did raise questions of compassion, and that will certainly feature in the course of our decision at the appropriate time. In the meantime, the Government stand firmly on the principle that any application of extradition should be settled by the courts, by due legal process. We have no intention of interfering in it, and I regret the fact that every month the hon. Gentleman asks us to interfere in it.
§ Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham)When, against the background of the Pinochet affair, the Presidents of Chile and of Argentina signed a joint declaration last December—in which, for the first time officially, Chile recognised the Argentine claims on the Falkland islands—why did the Foreign Secretary fail to make an official representation to the Chilean Government? Has he been caught napping again? Does he not realise that robust and immediate responses are expected from his Department when British interests are at stake?
§ Mr. CookThe hon. Lady is talking humbug. We have made perfectly plain to Chile, and to every other country that has taken that view, the basis of our robust position on the sovereignty of the Falkland islands, and the right of the Falkland islanders to self-determination. We have no anxiety about Chile and Argentina becoming friends, as we are friends of both, but we intend to insist on the right of the Falkland islands to decide their future.