Day one of Malvinas vote ends peacefully

Residents queue to vote in the capital Port Stanley, March 10, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

PORT STANLEY, Malvinas Islands - The first day of a two-day referendum on the fate of the Malvinas Islands, known as the Falklands to the British, ended without incident Sunday.

More than 60 percent of the islanders eligible to vote went to the polls.

The polling, supported by the United Kingdom and rejected by Argentina, took place between 10 am and 6 pm (1300-2100 GMT) in a climate of festivity that contrasted with freezing cold with temperatures near zero and an annoying rain.

More than 60 percent of registered voters in the capital Port Stanley cast their votes, the same percentage as in some remote areas, where the local government sent five mobile polling booths and a voting plane to facilitate the voting, local government sources told Xinhua.

"We want to send a clear message to the world about who we are and what we want to be: British," said Graham France, 69, the first resident to vote in the referendum.

Throughout the day, the pro-British sentiment was overwhelming both in speech and in clothing: dozens of people turned out to vote with flags, hats, ties, shirts, dresses and even costumes in the red, white and blue colors of the British flag.

"Of course I will vote yes," said Trina Bernsten, a taxi driver, when asked what would be her answer to the only question on the ballot: Do you want the Falklands to remain a British Overseas Territory?

While the referendum was taking place in the islands located 400 kilometers from mainland Argentina, Buenos Aires and London kept up their diplomatic battle on the issue of sovereignty.

"As long as the islanders want to remain British, we will always be there to protect them. They have my word," said British Prime Minister David Cameron, in an opinion piece for the London press.

Argentina's Ambassador to Britain Alicia Castro, meanwhile, told a British radio that the vote "will not end" the dispute.

"The capricious will of a small community cannot settle a territorial dispute," she said. "They have rights but they do not have this right, which is to decide that the territory they inhabit, which is Argentina's, is British," she said.

The vote was observed by a mission of experts from the United States, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand and Uruguay.

The deputy head of the group, Colombian-born American Juan Manuel Henao, told Xinhua that "only after the results are known, on Monday night, there will be a press conference in which the observers will share their opinion" on the vote.

The voting this Sunday in the Malvinas disrupted the usual routine of the city, which, in addition to celebrating Mother's Day, watched in amazement a convoy of nearly 500 cars in support of Britain and the referendum.

The result of the vote will be announced Monday night, between 9:30 and 10:30 pm local time (0030 and 0130 GMT Tuesday).