The Cuban parliament has announced its backing of Argentina's claim to sovereignty over the disputed Malvinas Islands, the official daily Granma reported Wednesday.

The International Relations Commission of the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power on Monday said the issue of the Malvinas Islands, called the Falklands by Britain, was about Argentine's territorial sovereignty.

According to Granma, Cuban parliament members issued a statement saying that the remote islands in the South Atlantic "are and always will be Argentine."

The statement noted the Argentine government and people have been continuing to call for the return of sovereignty of the islands.

The Cuban parliament also called for the return of other archipelagos in the area, including South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the territorial waters around them.

The British Navy expelled the Argentine government from the islands in 1833 and Buenos Aires has been seeking the return of the archipelago ever since.

In 1982, the military government of Leopoldo Gaitieri reoccupied the Malvinas by force, sparking a brief war between Argentina and Britain that resulted in the death of 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers before Britain claimed victory.

Since then, Britain has increased its military presence in the region fourfold, including deploying missiles capable of reaching as far south as Brazil, while the Argentine government of President Cristina Fernandez has been calling on the international community to support a "peaceful solution" to the dispute.