Falkland Islands fishing companies association, FIFCA expressed their “extreme disappointment” with Uruguay’s decision not to allow Falklands’ flagged vessels enter the port of Montevideo, which “will only serve to punish its own people”.
A two day Mercosur summit begins Monday in Montevideo with Foreign Affairs ministers meeting Monday and the presidents on Tuesday when the rotating chair will be passed from Uruguay to Argentina for the next six month.
Surprise and perplexity has surfaced from the Falkland Islands following the announcement by President Jose Mujica that Falklands’ flagged vessels are barred from Uruguayan ports.
Uruguayan opposition called the government of President Jose Mujica “submissive” and “obsequious” with Argentina for having announced it was barring Falkland Islands flagged vessels from the port of Montevideo.
Spanish ambassador in Uruguay Aurora Diaz-Rato criticized Argentina following an incident with an Argentine Coast Guard unit which tried to intercept a Spanish flagged vessel when exiting Montevideo en route to the Falkland Islands.
As Spanish vessel with Falkland Islands fishing licence was harassed Saturday morning by the Argentine Coast Guard on leaving the port of Montevideo for the South Atlantic and had to reroute course in Uruguayan waters until reaching the high seas.
Uruguay considers that British control over the Falklands or Malvinas Islands constitutes a “colonial enclave”, which is “inadmissible”, and that is why Falklands’ flagged vessels are barred from entering Uruguayan ports, said on Friday Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro.
The British Embassy in Montevideo is discussing with Uruguayan authorities the implications of President Jose Mujica public statement that Falklands/Malvinas flagged vessels “are banned from docking in the port of Montevideo”.
Uruguayan President José ‘Pepe’ Mujica denied on Thursday afternoon suffering pressure from the Argentine government to restrict British ships from docking at Montevideo’s ports.
Vice president Danilo Astori anticipated that in 2012 Uruguay will recover investment grade and said that including Uruguay in the OECD “grey list” was a “tremendous injustice” which did not take into account all the advances achieved in combating money laundering and narcotics trade.