Boris Johnson to lay Falklands wreath in Argentina adventure

Boris Johnson is set to lay a wreath at a memorial to the Argentine dead of the Falklands war as he arrives in the South American country on the second leg of a trade tour.

The Foreign Secretary will visit the Monumento a los caidos en Malvinas – the Mon- ument to the Fallen In the Falklands – in Argentine capital Buenos Aires today.

The monument honours the memory of the 649 Argentine troops who died in the 1982 conflict following the invasion of the British territories in the south Atlantic. The Falklands are still claimed by Argentina, but since his election as president in 2015, Mauricio Macri has significantly dialled down rhetoric on the issue.

Mr Johnson is hoping it will not prove a bone of contention during his two-day visit.

Anglo-argentine relations were thrust into the deep freeze for more than a decade by the bellicose approach of Mr Macri’s predecessors Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Kirchner, who used the islands as a distraction from Argentina’s economic woes.

Mr Johnson will become the first foreign secretary to visit Argentina since 1993 as he attends a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Buenos Aires. Theresa May is due to become the first prime minister since Tony Blair in 2001 to travel to the country when she takes part in the leaders’ summit of the international organisation in November.

Mr Johnson kicked off his Latin American tour in Peru where he announced a £177 million Uk-funded programme to encourage carbon reduction in four of the region’s countries, as well as viewing front line action to tackle the trade in illegal wildlife. 0 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson set to visit Argentina