CARACAS – Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez said yesterday Britain’s “desperation” for oil was leading it to flout international law in the Falkland Islands, and called on the British to return the islands to Argentina.
The Socialist Venezuelan leader said he supported Buenos Aires’ protests over planned drilling in the Falklands, where companies including UK-based Desire Petroleum are planning to look for oil and gas in nearby offshore areas.
“The British are desperate for oil since their own fields in the North Sea are now being depleted,” Mr Chavez said in a televised speech. “When will England stop breaking international law? Return the Malvinas to Argentina!”
Argentina still lays claim to the British-controlled south Atlantic islands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish.
Britain, which became a large oil exporter in the 1970s following massive oil finds in the North Sea, has seen its output decline. It has been a net oil importer since at least 2007, according to US department of energy figures.
While the Falklands are not an oil producer and hold no proven reserves, oil companies are betting offshore fields may hold billions of recoverable barrels of oil.
Argentina led an unsuccessful military campaign in 1982 to eject the British from the islands. – (Reuters)