MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mujica denies Argentine pressure, but confirms Falklands flagged vessels are banned

Argentina is Uruguay’s best friend, according to the Uruguayan leader

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.

The statements where made in response to related stories published by the local morning press. He also reiterated “Malvinas Islands flagged ships are not allowed to dock on the Uruguayan coast”.

In an official statement published by the Presidency’s website the government stressed “there was no call by the Argentine government to deny entry to British vessels as mistakenly informed by the press.”

Mujica also said that “the prohibition for Malvinas Islands flagged ships is part of a political position adopted by his country since Argentina claims the Islands and Uruguay supports that claim.”

He also reminded British vessels are welcomed to dock at the Uruguayan shore as “any other country.”

Thursday morning the Montevideo media reported diplomatic sources said the Argentine government have showed “discontentment” at Uruguayan authorities for allegedly allowing ships coming from the Malvinas Islands to dock at Montevideo’s ports.

The head of the Uruguayan Port Administration Carlos Díaz has denied the press reports saying no Falkland Islands flagged vessels have docked in Montevideo, but said they will “look into” the case with consideration.

This is not the first time Mujica denies news related to Argentina affecting Uruguay. Only last month Mujica was involved in a similar incident following the G20 summit in Cannes where President Nicholas Sarkozy included Uruguay in the list of “tax haven” countries.

Uruguayan diplomacy and government sources pointed a finger to Argentina as the force behind the statement which to a certain point was confirmed by Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman. Argentina is very much interested in having access to the names of individuals and companies with deposits and assets in Uruguay.

However Mujica had a release saying that in no way Argentina had been involved in such an incident.