David Cameron ‘stupid’, says Argentine ambassador

Prime Minister David Cameron. Picture: PA

Alicia Castro rounded on Mr Cameron in a speech to the Argentine senate in Buenos Aires.

She labelled him stupid and dumb, and accused him of being “inefficient” for criticising Pope Francis’ stance on the disputed islands.

Her outburst could inflame the already strained relationship between Britain and Argentina.

The former air hostess, an admirer of the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, ambushed Foreign Secretary William Hague over the Falklands in May last year by asking him at a public meeting whether he was ready to “give peace a chance” by opening talks on the islands’ future.

Her stinging attack on Mr Cameron came at a meeting of the Argentine senate’s foreign affairs commission.

Using the Spanish word Malvinas for the Falklands, she said: “Cameron was so stupid and inefficient when Pope Francis was chosen as the new papal leader because he broadcast what he had been saying about the Malvinas.”

Asking if it was appropriate to describe someone as “stupid” in parliament, she went on to dub Mr Cameron “foolish”. She added the country “had the extraordinary luck to be blessed with an Argentine Pope who is a Falklander” (a backer of Argentina’s claim). Appearing to ignore the fact Argentina tried to take the Falklands by force in 1982 by invading the disputed territory and sparking war with Britain, she added: “Argentina does not represent a military threat to the United Kingdom or the inhabitants of the islands.

“What does constitute a military threat is the enormous military might of the United Kingdom in the south Atlantic.”

Mr Cameron criticised the new Pope’s Falklands’ stance in March by saying he disagreed with comments he made last year when a cardinal in Buenos Aires, that Britain had “usurped” the islands from Argentina.

The Prime Minister also joked about the overwhelming vote in a March referendum by islanders to remain British, saying: “The white smoke over the Falklands was pretty clear.”

Ms Castro said at the time: “It is striking that the Prime Minister should dare rebuff the Pope.”

Earlier this month, Spanish media reported Madrid was seeking to take its dispute with the UK over Gibraltar to the United Nations with the support of Argentina.

Spanish foreign minister Jose Garcia-Margallo is expected to propose both countries present a “united front” over Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, the newspaper El Pais said.

Mr Garcia-Margallo will sound out his Argentine counterpart, Hector Timerman, during a meeting in Buenos Aires next month as he prepares for a “180-degree turn in policy towards the colony”, it is claimed.

Argentina is on a two-year term as non-permanent member of the UN’s Security Council and could use its position to get the Gibraltar issue discussed.

Argentine president Cristina Kirchner used a meeting of the council this month to demand fresh talks over the Falklands.