MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Malvinas Islands are Argentine, period, insists Uruguayan government

Deputy minister Menéndez: no English vessels of aircraft through Uruguayan waters or air space

Uruguay's Deputy Defense minister Jorge Menéndez reaffirmed that the Malvinas Islands are 'Argentine' and insisted that the government's support in defense of Argentine sovereignty over the Islands “is not of an expository character”.

 “For us the issue has been long ruled. The Malvinas are called Malvinas, and they are Argentine”, said Menéndez in an interview with the Argentine government news agency Telam.

“We've had a very consistent and coherent attitude on the issue. This is something real, it has to do with the control of our air space and the control of our territorial waters regarding English aircraft and vessels heading to the South”

Menéndez who is also a former chair of the Lower House Defense Committee said that “if the vessels are flying the British flag, it they are military they are not allowed in. Except for humanitarian reasons. The vessels with course Malvinas do not cross Uruguayan waters, and the same can be said regarding our air space”

The official also underlined the significance of joint views among countries of the region regarding the “Antarctic issue” and the possibility of articulating joint visions and claims.

“Antarctica for us is also crucial”, said Menéndez.

“We pretend joint actions which can help us with a greater effectiveness, so that South American countries can support each other in the matter” concluded Menéndez.