We'll do everything to safeguard the Falkland Islands, pledges No10 DOWNING Street has said the interests of the people of the Falkland Islands would be "protected," after Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner demanded the UK hands the territory over to her country. President slams "19th-century colonialism" and sites UN resolution calling for negotiations David Cameron says de Kircher should respect upcoming Falklands referendum Ms Fernandez called on the UK to abide by a 1965 United Nations resolution on the islands which called for a negotiated settlement. However, with a referendum on the future of the islands to go ahead in March, Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron would "do everything to protect the interests of the Falklands islanders." The move by Ms Fernandez follows heightened tensions last year over the future of the Falklands when she asked a UN committee on decolonisation to look at the case for the islands being handed to Argentina. While experts have dismissed fears of another invasion, there have been questions about whether the UK could retake the islands as it did after the Argentine invasion in 1982 because the Royal Navy will not have an aircraft carrier until 2020. Argentina's claim over the islands has been renewed since oil exploration began in its waters. In a letter published as a full-page advert in some British newspapers yesterday, Ms Fernandez claimed the UK's continued control of the islands was "a blatant exercise of 19th- century colonialism."" Argentina has claimed it inherited ownership of the islands from Spain, arguing that Britain occupied the islands by force in 1833 and expelled settlers, violating Argentina's integrity. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said Falkland islanders "are British and have chosen to be so." "They remain free to choose their own futures, both politically and economically, and have a right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN charter," she added. A spokesman for the Falklands Islands government said: "We are not a colony - our relationship with the United Kingdom is by choice." The latest row comes after celebrations last year to commemorate the 30th anniversary of British forces retaking the islands after the Argentine invasion. Mr Cameron's decision to mark the day by flying the Falklands flag from Downing Street provoked fury in Argentina and he and Ms Fernandez clashed publicly when they met at a later date in the UN. During the exchange, the Prime Minister rejected Ms Fernandez's demands for negotiations over the sovereignty of the islands and told her she should respect the result of a referendum.