Falklands row erupts as £1.8tn South American trade bloc throws weight behind Argentina

The Mercusor countries, which have a total combined GDP of £1.8trillion, have announced their support for Argentine sovereignty over the Falklands Islands. In a joint statement made during the LIX Mercosur Summit, the Presidents of the Mercosur member countries confirmed “their support for the legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute”.

Mercosur’s member countries are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as Venezuela – which is currently suspended – and Bolivia, which is in the process of joining.

Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guyana and Suriname are associated members of the bloc.

This comes after Argentina’s president Alberto Fernandez reiterated the contested Falkland Islands, known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina, will always belong to his nation, in the latest development of the simmering territorial dispute over the islands.

The UK has been in a longstanding dispute with Argentina over the Falklands islands, with the UK claiming sovereignty over the territory.

However, Argentina believes the land should belong to them.

The Falklands War, which took place in 1982, saw Britain and Argentina battle for control of the Falkland Islands – a tiny archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean made up of two main islands (dubbed East Falkland and West Falkland) and around 776 smaller outcrops.

While the conflict was fought between April 2 and June 14, 1982, only lasting for 74 days, long-running tensions over the territory remain.

More than 900 military personnel lost their lives during the conflict.

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He added: “Some people minimise the importance of these lands because they see them so far away that they even dare to say that we should pay for vaccines by handing over the islands.

“We are not going to trade the Malvinas neither for vaccines nor for debt – we are going to fight until they become Argentine again.

“When we talk about sovereignty, we always end up talking about Malvinas.

“We are going to continue working through diplomatic channels trying to convince the world about our rights over that land.”

In March 2013, Falklanders tried to settle the issue through a referendum.

On a turnout of 92 percent, 99.8 percent of the islanders who took part in the referendum in March 2013 said they wished for the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as a British overseas territory.

This result was rejected and the vote was branded as a “parody” by the then Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.