Latin America backs Argentina over Falklands

BRASILIA: Thirty years after the Falklands War,Latin America is closing ranks behindArgentina's sovereignty claim over the disputed islands and reviving a bid for control in the resource-richSouth Atlantic.

All countries of the region backBuenos Airesin its bitter dispute withLondonover the remoteSouth Atlanticarchipelago 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 theSummitof theAmericasin the Colombian city ofCartagena.

OnApril 2, 1982, the then-ruling military junta inArgentinainvaded theFalklands, igniting a 74-day war withBritainthat cost the lives of 649 Argentine, 255 British troops and threeFalklandislanders.

The war ended in defeat forArgentina, withBritainmaintaining control over a territory it has ruled since 1833.

But on this sensitive issue,Londonis facing a united Latin American front, led byBrazil, the region's dominant power that displacedBritainin 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 inBrasiliaearly this year.

He told Hague thatBraziland the region "back Argentine sovereignty over theFalklandsand the UN resolutions calling for dialogue between the Argentine and British governments on this issue."

Also early this year, Patriota saidBrazilwas working withUruguayto convene a meeting of the proposed South Atlantic Zone of Peace and Cooperation, bringing together South American and southern African countries.

"Brazil,ArgentinaandUruguayhave an interest in creating aSouth Atlanticsecurity zone. This has been on the agenda for decades," said Tullo Vigevani, a professor atSao PauloStateUniversity.

Alberto Pfeifer of the Analysis of International Relations think-tank at Sao Paulo University noted the South Atlantic was "extremely important" for countries on both sides of the ocean.

"The geology of this region is a mirror. What you have on the South American side, you will find on the southern African side. Already large oil reserves have been discovered on the African coast, in addition to the resources of the ocean, like fishing," he added.

Brazilis also beefing up its naval might in theSouth Atlantic, including with an ambitious submarine program, to protect its huge "sub-salt" oil reserves.

The oil fields, located offBrazil's southeast Atlantic coast beneath kilometers of ocean and bedrock, could contain more than 100 billion barrels of high-quality recoverable oil, according to official estimates.

Tensions betweenLondonandBuenos Aireshave flared anew since 2010, whenBritainauthorized oil companies to explore for oil inFalklandswaters, and have sharpened with the deployment of a British warship to the islands.

TheFalklands-- population around 3,000 -- are located some 400 nautical miles fromArgentina, which calls the islands the Malvinas.

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman has accusedBritainof accumulating the "biggest" military power in theSouth Atlantic, including nuclear arms.

And he used a 53-nation summit on nuclear security inSouth Koreathis month to urgeBritainto confirm it has no nuclear weapons in theSouth Atlantic.Londondismissed the insinuations as "unfounded and baseless."

Perurecently canceled a visit by a British navy frigate in solidarity withArgentina'sFalklandsclaim and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has suggested sanctions againstBritain.

Last December, the South American trading bloc Mercosur -- which includesBrazil,ArgentinaandUruguay-- agreed to close its ports to ships flying the flag of the British-controlled islands.

Raul Bernal-Meza, an international relations professor atBuenos AiresUniversity, however noted that Latin American support forArgentinawas not so open and unanimous 30 years ago in the middle of the Cold War when the region was ruled by right-wing dictatorships.

Chile, then under the rule of the late Augusto Pinochet, gave covert support toBritainand the only regional country to provide true aid toArgentinawasPeru, which sent weapons and Mirage jets.