Peru cancels Navy visit over Falklands dispute

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/20/peru-cancels-royal-navy-visit

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Peru has cancelled a scheduled visit by a Royal Navy frigate, HMS Montrose, as an act of solidarity with Argentina in its dispute with the UK over the Falkland Islands.

The move came just days after an official visit to Peru by the UK Foreign Office minister, Jeremy Browne. The Foreign Office said the Peruvian government had had the opportunity to raise concerns about the agreed visit before the minister left Lima last Friday.

The Peruvian foreign minister, Rafael Roncagliolo, told state media he supported Argentina's "legitimate rights" over the Falkland Islands and had expressed this position to Browne during his visit last week.

Roncagliolo said the decision to cancel the visit "had been taken in the spirit of Latin American solidarity commitments undertaken in the framework of Unasur (Union of South American Nations)."

He also told Peruvian radio that he had reversed his decision to allow the British frigate to dock in Callao naval base because it had been assigned to patrol the waters around the Falkland Islands (which Argentina calls Las Malvinas).

However, the decision was criticised by Peru's congressional defence commission and a former foreign minister, Luis Solari Tudela, who called it unnecessary and unfriendly.

In a statement, the British Embassy in Lima said: "HMS Montrose was scheduled to make a short visit to Peru as part of a routine deployment to the region. This was agreed as an act of friendship and cooperation between Peru and the UK.

"Ship visits are a sovereign decision for states, but we regret that Peru has revoked its previous agreement to this visit.

"The UK government remains fully committed to the Falkland Islanders' right to self-determination. This position will not change," it added.