Britain pursuing imperial agenda on Malvinas: Analyst

Britain's new plan to hold military exercises on the Malvinas Islands is aimed at maintaining its colonial presence in a region thousands of miles away from its territory, says a commentator.

“The British leadership wants to assert itself as still being a big power and as still having dominance in parts of the world including this part of the world,” Richard Becker with the ANSWER Coalition told Press TV on Saturday.

Argentina announced on Friday that Britain planned to hold military drills between Oct. 19 and 28 and even launch a missile from the Malvinas Islands.

Becker said the military exercises seem to be a British effort to “maintain some semblance of empire.”

While London avoids to say there is a British empire any more, “Britain remains a major imperialist power.”

The British empire seized the Malvinas Islands from Argentina by force 180 years ago.

A UN ruling in March said the Malvinas Islands reside in Argentinian waters but Britain continues its provocative dominance in the region, Becker said.

Becker touched on the anti-British sentiments of the Argentinians, saying there is “a long history of resentment and anger over what British colonization meant.”

On Friday, Argentina’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement to censure the British military drill on the Malvinas Islands.

"We reject the performance of such exercises in Argentinian territory, illegally occupied by the United Kingdom, which ignores the resolutions of the United Nations and other international organizations," read the statement.

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