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Archive (Thatcher MSS)
Personal and party papers, Cambridge

Falklands: President Reagan letter to MT (Argentina rejects US plan) (extract) [will make clear UK "worked with us in good faith", acting on self-defence] [declassified 1993]

Document type: Declassified documents
Source: Margaret Thatcher The Downing Street Years (1993), p211
Editorial comments:

Extract only. Declassified for publication in MT's memoirs.

Importance ranking: Key
Word count: 129 words
Themes: Foreign policy (USA), Defence (Falklands), MT contacts with Ronald Reagan

I am sure you agree that it is essential now to make clear to the world that every effort was made to achieve a fair and peaceful solution, and that Argentine Government was offered a choice between such a solution and further hostilities. We will therefore make public a general account of the efforts we have made. While we will describe the US proposal in broad terms, we will not release it because of the difficulty that might cause you. I recognize that while you see fundamental difficulties in the proposal, you have not rejected it. We will leave no doubt that Her Majesty's Government worked with us in good faith and was left with no choice but to proceed with military action based on the right of self-defence.