STORY HIGHLIGHTS <\/p>\n
(CNN) -- People living in the Falkland Islands are voting in a referendum on their political status on Sunday and Monday at a time of heightened tensions between Argentina and Britain over their sovereignty. <\/p>\n
The two countries went to war over the territory, known to the Argentinians as Las Malvinas, in 1982 after the then-military government in Argentina landed troops on the islands. <\/p>\n
According to the Falklands legislative assembly, the vote is intended to affirm islanders' desire to remain a self-governing territory of the United Kingdom and to reject claims of ownership by Argentina. <\/p>\n
The question put to voters is: \"Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?\" <\/p>\n
The two-day referendum is supported by the British government. <\/p>\n
But the Argentinian Embassy in London said in a statement Friday that the referendum had no legitimacy, characterizing it as \"a further attempt by the British to manipulate the question of the Malvinas Islands.\" <\/p>\n
Because the area around the Falklands is the subject of a sovereignty dispute, it argues, \"the United Kingdom has no right to alter the legal status of these territories, not even under the guise of a hypothetical 'referendum.' \" <\/p>\n
Argentina's president condemns 'colonial rule' <\/p>\n
In January, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner wrote an open letter, published in the UK press, in which she called on Britain to hand back the islands and accused it of blatant colonialism. <\/p>\n
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Falkland Islands hold referendum on disputed status<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- People living in the Falkland Islands are voting in a referendum on their political status on Sunday and Monday at a time of heightened tensions between Argentina and Britain over their sovereignty. The two countries went to war over the territory, known to the Argentinians as Las Malvinas, in 1982 after the then-military government in Argentina landed troops on the islands. According to the Falklands legislative assembly, the vote is intended to affirm islanders' desire to remain a self-governing territory of the United Kingdom and to reject claims of ownership by Argentina Continue reading