Bilateral trade, Mercosur/EU talks, oil and gas cooperation, and Falkland Islands, plus some audacious comments on the coming World Cup match Uruguay/England, were some of the issues addressed by Foreign Office minister for Latin-American Hugo Swire during his one day visit to Uruguay on Wednesday.
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%.
The superficialities and inconsistencies of the last Justicialista governments (Presidents Carlos Menem, Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez) have facilitated the consolidation of British presence in the South Atlantic and this will continue unless the Argentine political system agrees on a state policy regarding the recovery of the Malvinas Islands.
The Falkland Islands referendum a year ago when an overwhelming majority of Islanders voted to remain as a British Overseas Territory, supported on the UN charter enshrined peoples' right to self determination has become an obsession for Argentina and the official news agency Telam has been researching the international validation of the event and Canadian support stands out strongly.
Unsurprisingly, most Australians don’t know much about the Falkland Islands, so visiting Legislative Assembly member Mike Summers faced lots of questions during his trip to Melbourne this week.
According to an active online poll released in the British newspaper “The Daily Telegraph”, a clear majority, almost double, of the voters affirmed that the Falklands Islands should be under Argentina’s sovereignty. Almost half the majority of respondents rejected the idea and supported Britain, while the rest answered that the territory should be under “shared sovereignty.”
In a long statement recalling the 181st anniversary of the 'usurpation of our Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and the adjoining maritime spaces' (almost three million square kilometers) the Argentine Foreign ministry contrasts Buenos Aires peaceful, dialogue attitude with the verbal aggressiveness from British officials when referring to the Malvinas issue.
Prime Minister David Cameron reaffirmed Britain's steadfast support for Falkland Islands self determination and development of its resources, outstanding the Falklands referendum as the great event of 2013, a year which he described as 'momentous'.
Falkland Islanders have been praised for their international campaign of diplomacy explaining their democratic credentials to the world and proclaiming their overwhelming referendum vote for self-determination and retaining their links with the United Kingdom.
Argentina has threatened oil firms seeking to operate off the Falkland Islands with 15-year jail terms, huge fines and confiscation of assets in a fresh salvo in the dispute with Britain over South Atlantic islands sovereignty. But UK reiterated that Argentine law does not apply to Falklands or British Overseas Territories.