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By Agustin Geist
BUENOS AIRES, July 7 (Reuters) - Argentina's government has
launched a process to sanction a number of foreign firms it
accuses of illegally drilling for oil in a disputed area near
the British-run Falkland Islands, over which the South American
country also claims sovereignty.
The country's energy secretary Darío Martínez told reporters
on Wednesday it would seek sanctions against UK-based Chrysaor
Holdings, Harbour Energy and Israeli firm Navitas
Petroleum, adding them to eight other firms
previously sanctioned between 2011 and 2015.
Reuters could not immediately reach the firms for comment.
Argentina and Britain have long disputed ownership of the
Falklands, with Argentina claiming sovereignty over the islands
it calls the Malvinas. The dispute led to a brief war in 1982 in
which 255 British troops and about 650 Argentine soldiers died.
"The companies are not authorized to operate nor have they
requested any type of authorization," Martinez said at a press
conference, adding they were operating with illegal licenses
from the "illegitimate authorities" of the Falkland Islands.
Argentina's current center-left Persons government has
ratcheted up rhetoric over the disputed islands, some 650
kilometers (403.89 miles) of the country's southeast coast and
home to some 2,600 people, mostly of British descent.
The government has appointed a Malvinas minister, saying it
will redraw maps to emphasize its claim for use in schools and
lobbying at the United Nations.
(Reporting by Agustín Geist; Editing by Adam Jourdan and David
Gregorio)
