Latin America backs Argentina over Falklands

Thirty years after the Falklands War, Latin America is closing ranks behind Argentina's sovereignty claim over the disputed islands and reviving a bid for control in the resource-rich South Atlantic. All countries of the region back Buenos Aires in its bitter dispute with London over the remote South Atlantic archipelago and oppose any British military presence in the region, Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said in late March.
And she stressed that a statement on the issue would be issued at an April meeting of the Summit of the Americas in the Colombian city of Cartagena. On April 2, 1982, the then-ruling military junta in Argentina invaded the Falklands, igniting a 74-day war with Britain that cost the lives of 649 Argentine, 255 British troops and three Falkland islanders.
The war ended in defeat for Argentina, with Britain maintaining control over a territory it has ruled since 1833. But on this sensitive issue, London is facing a united Latin American front, led by Brazil, the region's dominant power that displaced Britain in December as the world's sixth largest economy.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota made this position abundantly clear in a meeting with his British counterpart William Hague in Brasilia early this year. He told Hague that Brazil and the region "back Argentine sovereignty over the Falklands and the UN resolutions calling for dialogue between the Argentine and British governments on this issue."
Also early this year, Patriota said Brazil was working with Uruguay to convene a meeting of the proposed South Atlantic Zone of Peace and Co-operation, bringing together South American and southern African countries. "Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have an interest in creating a South Atlantic security zone. This has been on the agenda for decades," said Tullo Vigevani, a professor at Sao Paulo State University.