A majority of Uruguayans, 55%, believe their country must support Argentina's sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands but an overwhelming 80% also want closer trade links with the Islands and reject the ban on Falklands flagged vessels to operate from Montevideo or other Uruguayan ports. In both cases neutral opinions range 11% and 12%.
“Unthinkable, unacceptable and unsupportable” was how Joanisval Brito Goncalves, Senior Legilslative Counselor for International Affairs and Defence Issues at the Brazilian Senate, described the Argentine government’s attitude to the Falkland/ Malvinas Islands in a press conference held in Stanley on Wednesday afternoon.
The Falkland Islands government said on Friday that Argentina's latest illegal attempt to undermine the Islands economy is in direct contradiction with its alleged claim that it wants to establish a dialogue and is yet another effort to disrupt the lives of 3.000 people who want to live in peace and with good neighborly relations.
Argentina is trying to impose an economic blockade on the Falkland Islands, said Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne who made plain clear that the people of the Falklands are free to determine their own political arrangements and were not to be part of ”some sort of trade-off” over their heads.
British ambassador in Chile Jon Benjamin said that if Lan flights to the Falkland Islands from Chile are suspended this can only be interpreted as an “economic blockade” of the Islands and strongly suggested that the administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is trumpeting the Malvinas card pushed by “domestic interests”.
There was considerable anticipation and speculation in the Falkland Islands on Tuesday as residents and visitors alike waited to hear Argentine president Cristina Kirchner’s much-publicized evening announcement.