William Hague made clear Britain’s position during a dinner with 100 international ambassadors, including Argentina’s Ambassador, Alicia Castro.

During the dinner, held in London, Hague emphasised he wanted to strengthen the relations between Britain and Latin America, but is committed to the “right of self-determination of the islanders.’

“This determination to deepen our relations with Latin America is coupled with our steadfast commitment to the right of self determination of the people of the Falkland Islands,” said Hague, as reported in the Telegraph. He added, that both countries will commemorate those lost during the war and these events cannot be “understood as a provocation.”

This was the first time Hague has addressed the sensitive issue in front of a high-ranking Argentine official.

A day later, the Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister, Luis Almagro, declared his opposition to blockading trade with the island.

“Supporting any form of blockade would be a violation of the Malvinas inhabitants’ human rights and the same we say with Cuba, we repeat in this case” said Almagro, yesterday.

Although Uruguay supports Argentina’s stance on the sovereignty of the islands, Almagro added that Uruguayan businesses can do trade “with whom they wish and with whom they can.”

Uruguay has been pulled into the debate by a misinformed Sun newspaper article, indicating that Uruguay was breaking trade restrictions set by Argentina on the Falklands. In a statement, Almagro pointed out that beside Argentina, “there’s no blockade of the Malvinas Islands inhabitants by any country of the continent.”

The Falklands/Malvinas debate has been gaining tension over the last few months, as the 30^th anniversary of the war draws near.

Argentina and Uruguay’s foreign ministers announced yesterday bilateral agreements on the environment, public works and social policies, among others. The series of agreements were carried out of the Second Binational Meeting of Ministers of both countries.

Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman described the meeting with his counterpart Luis Almagro as “very successful” and announced that both states will “implement a new scheme” for bilateral relations.

“The Joint Statement prompts the speeding up of trade matters and the improvement and expansion of bilateral trade. These are very important agreements,” said Almagro.

The ministerial conclave were stemmed of the framework of the Declaration of Anchorena, which was signed by presidents Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and José Mujica on 2nd June last year. The declaration establishes regular meetings of both ministers with the goal of establishing priorities and developing courses of action in the bilateral agenda items of both countries.

Timerman announced that both countries will implement a new scheme which will periodically assess progress and provide feedback on the dynamic integration process. He explained that they have signed agreements such as the establishment of regulations for the integration committees on humanitarian cooperation in renewable energy, science and technological innovation applied to food, biotechnology, cooperation on security and combating transnational organised crime.

Also they agreed in a commitment to work together on the dredging of the Río de la Plata and the Río Uruguay, and on issues such as fisheries, energy, sports, infrastructure, social politics, health, environment, production, trade, housing, telecommunications, agriculture and tourism.

Uruguayan and Argentine ministers will meet every six months and are to be in constant communication. Regarding energy agreements, both countries agreed to consider a regasification plant and the Salto Grande bi-national dam.

“Anything that involves a greater navigability in the border rivers is important because it provides a framework for growth in production and exports of both countries,” stated Timerman, who explained that “together we will try to carry out the dredging and prioritise business of both of our countries to help protect the environment.”

Last but not least the dream of again hosting the World Cup in Argentina began to take shape. In regard to the idea of forming a committee and run together to organize the Cup in 2030, a hundred years after its first edition in ‘tierras Charrúas’. Both ministers agreed of the creation of this bi-national committee to support the initiative by the AFA (Argentine Football Association) and the AUF (Uruguayan Football Association). This will all strengthen the promotion of the candidacy of Argentina and Uruguay for the World Champions in 2030.

According to Almagro: “The agreements that have been signed are all strategic issues for our countries which have to work the joint administration of common resources and strengthen the partnership that we already have. This meeting is not just another meeting. We certainly took a big step forward!”