Argentina has decreed that all public transport vehicles and stations display signs proclaiming “The Falklands are Argentine”.
Naturally, the signs are to call the islands Las Malvinas.
Argentina’s congress passed unanimously the law, which is part of wider reforms to public transport.
Senator Teresina Luna, the congress member who proposed the new regulation, wrote: "It is directed not only at the foreigner who comes here as a tourist or visits our country, but also at the citizens in general, and will serve to reinforce our history, our culture and our identity."
The country’s economy is stagnant, inflation is rising, and the price of its main export, soya, dropped suddenly 35% over the last four months.
Thousands demonstrated on the streets this month calling for a government without Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, although she is due to leave office next year and cannot run again.
Demonstrators also protested against corruption (the vice president has been indicted twice this year for fraud and for corruption), inflation and the high crime rate.
The UK Foreign Office called the new required signage a “hostile course of action” which was “regrettable but not surprising”.
"But no sign can change the rights of the Falkland islanders to their own identity and we are determined to uphold that right," a spokesman added.
Last year, Falkland islanders took part in a referendum, voting by 1,513 to three to remain a British overseas territory.
