A frenzied mob set fire to Union Flags outside the British Embassy in Buenos Aires yesterday in an ugly protest over the Falkland Islands.
More than 100 Argentinian militants marched on the building while urging their government to sever diplomatic links with London.
They bellowed insults about David Cameron and held up banners declaring: ‘England out of the Falklands’ and ‘Break ties now’.
The mob took to the streets after the Prime Minister accused Argentina of being ‘colonialist’ for repeatedly demanding sovereignty over the South Atlantic territory.
His remarks to Parliament last Wednesday provoked a furious response and escalated tensions ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War on April 2.
Riot police were mobilised to protect the embassy and ensure the march, led by nationalist group Proyecto Sur and left-wing political party MST, passed off peacefully.
The 1982 conflict over the islands, when an invading Argentinian army was thrown out by a British task force, claimed the lives of 255 British troops and 649 Argentines.
Tensions have risen again after the discovery of oil in the seas around the islands, which lie about 300 miles off Argentina.
Mr Cameron used his appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions this week to reassert that Britain would never hand over the Falklands – a dependency since the 1830s – against the wishes of the local 3,000 population.
He also revealed the Armed Forces had drawn up contingency plans for combating a threat to the archipelago.
But his remarks infuriated politicians in Buenos Aires. Amado Boudou, acting leader while President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner recovers from surgery, said Mr Cameron was ignorant and told him to re-read his history books.
Prince William is being posted to the islands as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot next month – a move Argentina attacked as ‘provocative’.
Foreign Secretary William Hague risked inflaming tensions in Latin America by revealing Prince Harry will make an official visit to Brazil next month.
Britain and Argentina fought a brief war over the islands, known locally as the Malvinas, in 1982.
The conflict claimed the lives of 255 British troops and 649 Argentines. After the war Britain built a fully functioning military garrison with an airstrip capable of accommodating any size military jets.
Forces currently based on the islands include 1,200 troops and four Eurofighter Typhoons, while the surrounding seas are patrolled by the frigate Montrose, the offshore patrol vessel Clyde and survey ship Protector.
Frictions between the two countries intensified in 2010 when British firms discovered oil offshore in the North Falklands Basin.
Last month tensions erupted after the Mercosur trade bloc – Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil – agreed to block ships that flew the ‘illegal’ Falklands flag.
The dispute overshadowed the first official visit by Mr Hague to Brazil. He conceded Britain and Latin America disagreed but said: ‘We believe in the self-determination of the people of the Falklands.’
Last night former military top brass raised serious concerns about whether Britain would be able to defend the Falklands amid sweeping cuts to the Armed Forces.
General Sir Peter Whiteley, a former commandant general of the Royal Marines, said: ‘If the Argentines decided to invade again we could never consider trying to take them (the Falklands) back because of our lack of naval resources.’
And Surgeon Rear Admiral Ralph Curr, the Royal Navy’s former medical director-general, added: ‘There’s no way we could defend the Falklands or re-engage the Argentines if it all happened again.’
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