Argentina has become the second Latin American state after Brazil to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
AFP reports that in a letter to Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner (right) wrote that her country recognizes Palestine as a "free and independent state" as defined by the 1967 borders.
On Friday 3rd, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry announced that Brasilia recognizes the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The Brazilian announcement came in a public letter in response to a personal request by Abbas on November 24.
The Brazilian letter expressed support for the Palestinians' quest for a homeland as a "legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people for a secure, united, democratic and economically viable state."
The authorities in Tel Aviv are reportedly infuriated.
True to form, US Congressman Eliot Engel criticized the Brazilian move and said, "Brazil's decision to recognize Palestine is severely misguided and represents a last gasp by a Lula-led foreign policy which was already substantially off track."
There is no legitimate reason why the international community should not back Palestinian demands for a state in most of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), all territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Late news: Uruguay has joined these countries in 'recognising' Palestine, announcing it will recognize a Palestinian state next year.
"Uruguay will surely follow the same path as Argentina in 2011," deputy foreign minister Roberto Conde told AFP. "We are working toward opening a diplomatic representation in Palestine, most likely in Ramallah."
More than 100 states, mostly from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, have recognised Palestinian statehood, and Brazil becomes the last of the BRIC group of emerging powers – Brazil, Russia, India and China – to do so.
Other South American countries could now follow suit, and there has been speculation that Peru could be next.
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