Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner says she has won the backing of other Latin American leaders over her objections to British oil exploration around the Falkland Islands.

Fernandez de Kirchner told a regional summit the UK was flouting international law.

At a press conference after the meeting she said: “Argentina will not adopt any measure that does not come within the limits of international law or the laws within Argentina’s own jurisdiction and competence. And we will be very strict about it because the only thing you can’t do with a cannibal is to eat him.”

Fernandez de Kirchner claims the UK drilling operation is breaching Argentina’s sovereignty and behind the closed doors of the summit in Mexico the group approved a document supporting Argentina in the territorial dispute.

As the diplomatic war of words rages the Falkland Islanders themselves seems unconcerned.

Islander Trudy Felton said: “We just want to be left alone, we really do. Ok, there’s oil here but we don’t have to have a great big war about it. It’s stupid.”

Both sides appear unwilling to ratchet up the mudslinging to the point of confrontation.

No-one wants a repeat of the conflict in 1982 when Argentina invaded the islands only to hand them back when a British task force re-took them.

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