OAS urges dialogue between UK and Argentina on Malvinas Islands sovereignty

The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) reiterated Friday the need for the United Kingdom and Argentina to resume dialogue on the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands (Falklands), a group of islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean that the South American country claims and that London controls politically.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the OAS General Assembly had adopted a declaration on the issue “by acclamation” and called for a peaceful resolution of the territorial dispute.

At the 52nd General Assembly of the OAS, which brought together hemispheric foreign ministers Oct. 5-7 in the Peruvian capital of Lima, Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister Pablo Tettamanti referred the dispute.

“This year is a special occasion to address the issue of the Malvinas Islands within the Organization of American States since it has been 40 years since this General Assembly first dealt with the Malvinas issue,” the Argentine official said.

Tettamanti stressed that the OAS had reached a historic consensus by declaring every year that the issue of the Malvinas Islands is “an issue of permanent hemispheric interest” and thanked the countries of the hemisphere for their “constant solidarity” with Argentina on the matter.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry said that “numerous countries have expressed their support for the declaration and their support for the resumption of negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom to resolve the sovereignty dispute.”

“Among them, the representatives of Brazil, Peru, Chile, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Uruguay, and Ecuador,” the Argentine Foreign Ministry said.

The Paraguayan delegation conveyed the support of the heads of state of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).

At the same time, Mexico, on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), reiterated its support for Argentina.

For his part, the Secretary for the Malvinas, Antarctica, and the South Atlantic, Guillermo Carmona, pointed out that “this repeated hemispheric accompaniment on the Malvinas issue is fundamental to move forward in restoring the full exercise of Argentine sovereignty.”

Between April 2 and June 14, 1982, Argentina and the United Kingdom engaged in a war over the sovereignty of the island territory, which London had controlled since 1833.

The conflict ended with the deaths of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers, and three islanders.