Latin American leaders back Argentina over Falklands oil drilling

Latin America and Caribbean nations appeared to close ranks behind Argentina yesterday in its dispute with Britain over oil exploration in Falkland islands’ waters.

A summit of 32 countries in Mexico endorsed an Argentine document accusing Britain of flouting international law by permitting drilling to begin this week, said Argentina’s president, Cristina Kirchner.

“We have achieved very strong support, something that legitimates our claims fundamentally against the new petroleum activity.”

The Argentine statement quoted Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, saying: “The heads of state represented here reaffirm their support for the legitimate rights of the republic of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute with Great Britain.”

The Rio Group summit, meeting in Cancún, made no immediate official statement but there was no doubting support for Argentina from leftist allies. Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega demanded the UK hand back the Falklands, which Argentinians call Las Malvinas, to Buenos Aires.

The Argentine government is seeking to escalate its diplomatic offensive in New York today when its foreign minister, Jorge Taiana, meets with UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, to press Argentina’s claim. The UN has called for talks between Britain and Argentina but has little power to intervene without the backing of the Security Council where the UK can veto substantive resolutions. The longstanding sovereignty stand-off flared earlier this month over the arrival of a rig, the Ocean Guardian, which is to drill offshore for oil and gas deposits which could turn the archipelago into an oil-rich region.

Desire Petroleum, a small British company, started drilling on Monday about 60 miles north of the islands. Geologists say there could be up to 60bn barrels although sceptics doubt its commercially viability.

The row has brought Anglo-Argentine relations to a new low since the 1982 conflict but Kirchner ruled out any attempt to blockade the islands. Analysts said Buenos Aires scored a diplomatic victory in mustering regional solidarity but that the practical effects were negligible.

“Beyond making Kirchner, and some other Latin American leaders, feel good and perhaps getting a bit of a political bounce at home, the collective regional posture will mean very little on the ground,” said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank.

The main purpose of the two-day summit, which finished yesterday, was to agree on a new pan-regional body which would exclude the US and Canada and eclipse the toothless Washington-based Organisation of American States.

However, pledges of solidarity were overshadowed by a row between Chávez and Colombia’s president, Alvaro Uribe, who reportedly traded insults at a lunch. Chávez reportedly said “vete al carajo” – which can be translated either as “go to hell” or “go fuck yourself” – and threatened to walk out while Uribe replied that the Venezuelan should “be a man” and stay to argue his case rather than hurl insults from afar. Cuba’s president, Raúl Castro, intervened to cool the row.