The Mercosur summit approved Thursday a declaration protesting “formally and energetically” UK’s decision to hold military exercises in the Malvinas islands and reiterated support for Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the South Atlantic Islands.
Argentina renewed this week its sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and accused the United Kingdom of deliberately not complying with the International Maritime Organization regulations by exposing the security of shipping in the South Atlantic.
New cables released by the website Wikileaks and published by the Spanish newspaper El País state the US Secretary of State worries in June 2009 about the sudden change in the language of Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's government in Antarctica and Falkland/Malvinas Islands case.
The presidents of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) meeting at a summit in Guyana paid homage to former president Nestor Kirchner, agreed to incorporate a “democratic clause” to the group’s charter, left for next month a decision on who will be named the next secretary general and had a special mention to the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the UK. Argentina also revealed that the post should be occupied by an Argentine.
The Brazilian government questioned UK’s “unilateral actions” regarding the (Falklands) Malvinas Islands and called for the sovereignty “long standing dispute” to reach “as soon as possible a solution”.
Argentina claimed sovereignty over the Malvinas and South Atlantic Islands and criticized UK’s unilateral actions in fisheries and hydrocarbons during the signing on Saturday of a defence cooperation and development agreement with South Africa.
Brazil has always recognized Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands but was reluctant to include South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands however that is over, according to a top official from the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Argentine Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman thanked his Mercosur counterparts for “renewing their support towards Argentina for its legitimate, constant and unlimited right to claim the Malvinas Islands' sovereignty to the United Kingdom”.
The president of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation Ambassador Donatus Keith Saint Aimée called for “patience and cooperation” from Argentina to help find a solution to the Falklands/Malvinas Islands sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom.
The Falklands/Malvinas dispute between Argentina and the UK is having its effects on the (Spanish) Galician fleet in the Southwest Atlantic, where most of its vessels operating under the Falklands flag are continually being “harassed” by Argentine patrol vessels, reports El Faro de Vigo in an interview with Javier Touza, president of the Vigo Ship Owners cooperative.