eignty over the Malvinas Islands, both in the organs of the United Nations and in those of the OAS and of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. 197. Argentina’s right to those islands as part of its national territory is clear, since, when it achieved independence from Spain, it succeeded to all the rights formerly held by that metropolitan country, In this regard, as the constitutional President of mY country, Mr. Osvaldo Hurtado, said in a recent cum- munication to the President of Argentina: 18 “Ecuador has AW~IYS maintained that right to the territories of the Latin American countries must be based on the essential legal principle of I,ripo,~,~;&ti,v .iirri.v of 18 IO and. consequently, has always rejected territorial gains by the threat or use of force. Hence, it considers that the mere occupation of territories that rightfully belong to our countries cannot be validated by the passage of time, however long it may be. From the outset, it has been a matter of outright usurpation of territory. Added to this is Ecuador’s firm determination, expressed on many occasions, to exhaust every possible effort in order to achieve the elimination of colonialism throughout the world, particularly in Latin America.” 1%. In the face of the unacceptable dispatch-which is as much a breach of the law as it is an anachronism- of an enormous naval force against the American con- tinent; in the face of the declared use of force in order to impose solutions; in the face of the announced and publicized naval and air blockade through the arbi- trary seizing of ocean spaces: in the face of economic Sanctions, endorsed by various Powers in the Euro- pean Community; and now in the face of the resort to open warfare-Ecuador expresses its complete repudiation of these acts and invokes the principles of 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be a diplomatic statement or a declaration from Ecuador regarding its stance on the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands, which is a territorial dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The text does not mention specific economic, environmental, or social issues related to the Malvinas Islands, but rather focuses on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the illegality of the use of force to resolve the dispute.

**Category**
International relations, Culture