The Glade 4.0

Leaders of all 32 countries supported Argentine claims to the islands and condemned oil drilling operations that are already under way.

The row erupted after a UK firm began drilling for oil off the Falkland Islands and Argentina objected.

Buenos Aires has ruled out military action and is pursuing talks at the UN.


What is the geographic, the political or economic explanation for England to be in Las Malvinas? Could it be because England is a permanent member of the UN's Security Council where they can do everything and the others nothing?

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva


New US-free Americas bloc planned
In a statement, the leaders reaffirmed "backing for Argentina's legitimate rights in its sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom relating to the 'Malvinas Question'".

The statement also urged the two governments to "renew negotiations in order to find in the shortest time possible a just, peaceful and definitive solution to the dispute".

Meanwhile Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the UN to debate Argentina's sovereignty claim.

"What is the geographic, the political or economic explanation for England [sic] to be in Las Malvinas?" he asked.

"Could it be because England is a permanent member of the UN's Security Council [where] they can do everything and the others nothing?"

Drilling operation

Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana is due to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday.


ANALYSIS
Andy Gallacher, BBC News, Cancun

For the Argentine government the Cancun summit has been a huge success.

They have received unanimous backing condemning Britain's oil drilling activities in the Falkland Islands and backing its claims of sovereignty over the long disputed archipelago.

Leaders from 32 nations spanning Latin America and the Caribbean backed what is becoming an increasingly bitter dispute between the British and Argentine governments.

Backing on this scale by so many nations is now bound to give the Argentines renewed fervour in their claims and calls for the British government to negotiate sovereignty.

Argentina and Britain went to war over the South Atlantic islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, in 1982, after Buenos Aires invaded them.

UK forces wrested back control of the territory, held by Britain since 1833, during a seven-week war that killed 649 Argentine and 255 British service personnel.

The British-contracted rig Ocean Guardian began drilling 100km (62 miles) north of the Falklands on Monday.

The drilling operation in the disputed waters off the Falkland Islands could yield millions of barrels of oil and the British government says it will take all necessary measures to protect the archipelago.

But Buenos Aires has ruled out military action and is trying to pressure Britain into negotiations on sovereignty.

The Argentine foreign minister is due to meet with the UN Secretary General in New York as they continue their diplomatic offensive.

Also at the two-day summit of the Rio Group and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in Mexico, leaders agreed to set up a new regional body without the US and Canada.

The new bloc would be an alternative to the Organisation of American States (OAS), the main forum for regional affairs in the past 50 years.

Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and at the UN.

Despite Britain’s close alliance with the US, the Obama Administration is determined not to be drawn into the issue. It has also declined to back Britain’s claim that oil exploration near the islands is sanctioned by international law, saying that the dispute is strictly a bilateral issue.

Argentina said earlier this month that it strongly opposed energy exploration on its continental shelf. "What they're doing is illegitimate ... it's a violation of our sovereignty. We will do everything necessary to defend and preserve our rights," Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said.

Argentina said earlier this month that it strongly opposed energy exploration on its continental shelf. "What they're doing is illegitimate ... it's a violation of our sovereignty. We will do everything necessary to defend and preserve our rights," Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said.

I believe official neutrality regarding the competing claims has always been the US position, DE. Obama's not doing anything new here. Basically, the UK and Argentina are both ridiculously touchy about this issue, so the US doesn't want to get involved.

I believe official neutrality regarding the competing claims has always been the US position, DE. Obama's not doing anything new here. Basically, the UK and Argentina are both ridiculously touchy about this issue, so the US doesn't want to get involved.

Moreover, it's been a nonissue until recently.

They'll kick the British Ambassador and staff out of the country?

They won't import any British goods?

They'll vote against every British proposal in the UN?

They won't buy any of the oil from the Falklands/Malvinas?

Depends on if you consider the offer of material and logistic support to England during the Falklands War, a resolution by both houses of Congress in support of England in the conflict, and termination of arms supplies to Argentina as "official neutrality".

And it's a stupid position. Britain is a major ally. Argentina is... a vacation spot. How does it benefit us to not back a major ally that's backed us on quite a few things?

Britain is a major ally, but Latin America, which universally backs Argentina's position, is a major trading region for us. If Argentina invades the Falklands, I'm sure we'll back Britain's right to respond again, but so long as this is just a war of words, it's in our interests to keep our noses out of it and avoid seriously pissing off either side. It definitely does need to be handled with some finesse, though. For whatever reason, Britain is every bit as touchy about this issue as the folks in Latin America are.

In comic strips the person on the left always speaks first. - George Carlin

What about The Monroe Doctrine?

The U.K.is a much bigger trading partner for us than any individual Latin American country, almost twice as much as Brazil, the only country in our top 10.

Indeed, but trade with Latin America as a whole is vastly larger than with Britain. US exports to Latin America, in fact, rival exports to the entire EU. Not to mention that we have significant non-trade interests in the region - drug interdiction, immigration issues, a huge number of American residents and citizens with personal and family connections in Latin America, etc. It's true that Latin American countries and people are far from uniform and shouldn't be treated as such generally, but on certain issues there is still widespread sensitivity to perceptions of US dominance/interference, and on those issues we have to consider the broader implications for our reputation throughout region. The Falklands dispute has exactly the kind of b.s. symbolism that's likely to trigger those sensitivities, so we're much better off just minding our own business and letting Britain and Argentina have their little argument.

One wonders where Chavez is in all this. I'm sure this will be another excuse to grandstand against the U.S. along with Britain.

England doesn't need backing. The Falklands belong to England. I dare any of those south american countries...or even all of them at once, to try to claim otherwise with any level of military backing.

England may not be America, but it could still take on South America in their entirety with one hand tied behind their back.

Decisively.