Havana, January 30 (RHC) -– The Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) underlined in its final declaration its determination to strengthen the regional space among Latin American and Caribbean countries and, at the same time, ratified its full support for Argentina's claim over the Malvinas Islands.

The Havana Declaration, released on Wednesday, expresses “its strongest support for the legitimate rights of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas, South Georgia and Sandwich and surrounding maritime spaces, as well as a permanent interest that such a dispute is resolved peacefully and through negotiations, according to Resolution 31/49 from the UN General Assembly”.

In a related matter, the document also underlined the “Latin American and Caribbean character of Puerto Rico and on taking note of the resolutions referred to Puerto Rico from the UN Special Committee on Decolonization, we reiterate that this is a matter of interest for CELAC.”

”We CELAC member states are committed to continue working in the framework of the rule of the law and more specifically Resolution 1514 from the UN General Assembly –- December 14, 1960 -- so as to achieve that the whole region of Latin America and the Caribbean become a territory free of colonialism and colonies”, added the final resolution.