Chilean television has transmitted the controversial interview with Roger Waters in which the former Pink Floyd rock star says he believes the Falkland Islands, claimed by Argentina as "Las Malvinas", should ultimately be considered Argentine.
To the question: "Falklands? Malvinas? What is your take? Is it British or is it Argentine?" by Chilean journalist Amaro Gómez-Pablos, Waters replies: "I think it should be Argentine.
"My concern as an Englishman is that they've been used and the argument has been used for narrow political ends in England, first by Margaret Thatcher and now by David Cameron.
"There's nothing they like more than to toe the line in the Houses of Parliament and stand there with hand on hip and say: the Falkland Islands are British and they always will be and the Falklands islanders' wishes are paramount and as long as they want to be British ... Bullshit!"
"Don't you fear betraying your flag?" was the follow-up question by the primetime journalist.
"No, I don't," replied Waters in the interview, also aired in Argentina. "By and large I'm as ashamed as I possibly could be of our colonial past. I take no pride in the fact that 150 years or so the sun never set on the British empire and that we were out raping and plundering and stealing as much we could from everybody all over the world as possible. That kind of imperialism is not something that as an Englishman I'm proud of."
Waters did say the wishes of the Falklands' 3,000 inhabitants should be considered. "The Falkland Islanders are Brits, aren't they?" said Waters. "They have a point of view. So there is a case to be made for both things."
Excerpts from the taped interview were leaked by the Chilean journalist on his Twitter account on Tuesday, to the delight of Waters's Argentinian fans but causing anger among some in Britain and the Falklands.
With his words covered widely in the Argentinian press, "According to Roger Waters" soon became a trending topic on Argentine Twitter accounts: "Las Malvinas are Argentine, according to Roger Waters; Adele is Argentine; Messi is Spanish; England is Argentine, but according to England Roger Waters is ours" were some of the many Tweets posted.
Waters arrives in Buenos Aires next week for nine sold-out shows at the River Plate football stadium, with more than 370,000 tickets quickly bought up by eager Argentinian fans almost immediately after they went on sale.
