MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine judge rules travel agency should not advertise Malvinas as UK destination

Judge Cánepa ruled that advertising the United Kingdom as the country of destination when traveling to the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands was misleading

Judge Guillermo Patricio Cánepa of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) ruled this week that Cruiseline S.R.L. should not mislead potential customers by advertising cruise services to the United Kingdom's “Islas Malvinas.” The magistrate ordered the company to pull its advertising campaign in that regard and recognize Argentina's sovereignty over the archipelago.

Cruiseline S.R.L. was brought to Justice by lawyers Facundo J. Roitman and Melisa E. Guevara who acted as plaintiffs. The company's websites offered cruises with itineraries that included the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, identifying the United Kingdom as the destination country. In addition, the name “Port Stanley” was used instead of the Argentine-sanctioned Puerto Argentino. Cánepa found those practices were an attempt to reinforce the British image of the territory.

Roitman and Guevara noted that the advertisements were not only misleading and confusing as to the sovereignty of the islands, but also affected the dignity of the Argentine people and dishonored those who fought in the 1982 war. “They infringe consumer regulations by including legends that mislead consumers as to the factual and legal situation: in addition to inducing that the destination is the United Kingdom, they confuse the sovereignty over the Islands, which belong to Argentina, a country that maintains its unwavering claim over the territory,” Roitman and Guevara said in their submission.

Hence, Cánepa ordered Cruiseline S.R.L. to correct its advertisements, specifying that the Malvinas, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands should be advertised as Argentine pursuant to the Argentine Constitution and other laws, regardless of the actual situation in these territories. The magistrate gave the company 5 days to comply.

Cruiseline S.R.L. argued that it only acted as an intermediary in the commercialization of the tickets and had no control over the information stated in the advertisements. Cánepa rejected these arguments and held that the company actively participated in the marketing chain and was directly responsible for the content published on its platforms.

In addition, the judge underlined that any omission or inaccuracy in the advertisements that may lead to confusion or deception about the geographical location of the tourist destinations is considered unlawful. Therefore, Cruiseline S.R.L. should mention Argentina as the destination country.

The magistrate also ordered the company to notify customers having already purchased tickets of the ruling as well as anyone intending to acquire those services in the future.

“It was also proven that the defendant, through its websites, offers different cruise trips operated by different shipping companies, with an itinerary that includes the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island where the United Kingdom is mentioned as the destination country, indicating in some of them also the name of Port Stanley, to refer to the geographical location of the Malvinas Islands,” Judge Cánepa said.

“The Argentine legal system clearly shows that the Malvinas, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands and the maritime and insular areas are part of the Argentine territory, are part of the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands, and despite the colonial occupation of the territory by the United Kingdom, the Argentine Nation, and people claim their sovereignty and the recovery of such territories,” he added.

Canepa thus found those advertisements “unlawful, since they are contrary to the constitutional mandate which states that the Argentine Nation ratifies its legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty. Likewise, they affect the collective dignity of the Argentine people and are contrary to the system of values and rights recognized by the National Constitution and by the aforementioned laws.”

The ads also “contain concealments and inaccuracies, which have a sufficient entity to induce error, confusion, or deception to consumers who intend to contract the cruise, where they are not provided with correct information about the countries they will visit during the trip, about the geographical location of the tourist destinations and include photographic images of cities that the cruise will not visit,” he argued.