The boss of a major South American airline has sparked fury in Argentina over the way he referred to The Falkland Islands.

Roberto Alvo, CEO of Latam Airlines, recently shared a post on LinkedIn celebrating the company and the routes it offers.

While listing places it flies to from Santiago, Chile, he referred to the destination in The Falklands as “Mount Pleasant in the Southern Atlantic.” The site Agenda Malivans – which describes itself as practising “Anti-colonial periodical journalism” – claimed the reference sparked controversy in Argentina.

Mount Pleasant is the name of a Royal Air Force (RAF) base and airport, opened in the mid-80s to establish a fighter and transport presence on the Falklands, following the undeclared war between Britain and Argentina over two British dependent territories including the Islands from April to June 1982.

It came after Argentina’s military junta ordered its army to seize the Falklands, sparking sparking the 74-day conflict.

The British government led at the time by Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force to liberate the islanders from their Argentinian captors.

Argentina lost 649 soldiers, while 255 British Armed Forces personnel were killed during the conflict and 777 were injured.

Argentina continues to claim the islands, which lie some 300 miles east of Patagonia in Southern Argentina and refers to them as Las Malvinas.‌

Argentina’s current president Javier Milei has broken from the language of past leaders by saying that the Islands are “in the hands of the UK”.

Speaking to BBC News earlier this year, the right-wing populist vowed to return the islands to Argentine control through diplomatic channels but admitted there was “no instant solution”.

Leaders in the country have historically insisted the islands are Argentine, despite being under British control.

Latam offers a weekly flight from Santiago de Chile to The Falklands, with a monthly connection to the Patagonian city of Rio Gallegos, according to reports.

LATAM Airlines has been approached for comment.

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