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Argentina further delays the dredging of a River Plate canal vital for Uruguay

Tuesday, May 15th 2012 - 08:25 UTC
Full article 43 comments

Argentina formally requested Uruguay to jointly audit the River Plate Administrative Commission, CARP for alleged corruption claims involving the maintenance of the Martin Garcia canal, and which emerged in the Uruguayan press. Read full article

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  • Idlehands

    I'm not sure if I fully understand this article - so correct me if I'm wrong.

    Is it saying that Argentina has been repeatedly delaying allowing the canal to be dredged and now Uruguay has uncovered cases of corruption in Argentina that has led to this. In response instead of Argentina speeding the dredging they are now using an investigation into there own corruption to delay the project even further?

    May 15th, 2012 - 09:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Teaboy2

    Thats what it sounds like Idlehands.

    May 15th, 2012 - 09:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • cLOHO

    I would be embarrased to be an RG, the government are soooooo corrupt its untrue. Nothing is ever Argentinas fault...

    May 15th, 2012 - 11:34 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • toooldtodieyoung

    1 Idlehands

    I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

    May 15th, 2012 - 12:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Be serious

    Not content with their economic blockade of the Falkland Islands, Argentina now wants to extend it to Uruguay. Uruguay should just go out and dredge the channel and to hell with Argentina. In any event when has Argentina ever respected any agreement with anybody.

    May 15th, 2012 - 12:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Teaboy2

    Urugauy can't afford it. So what the hell, lets do it for Uruguay free of charge on the condition they allow falkland flagged vessels in their ports. Just to piss of CFK.

    May 15th, 2012 - 12:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Leiard

    Are we really surprised, we all know that Argentina and CFK are always right it is the rest of the world who do not understand this.

    May 15th, 2012 - 12:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Idlehands

    Without knowing the geography I assume it must be a massive canal to cost that much to dredge?

    May 15th, 2012 - 01:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • British_Kirchnerist

    So Timmerman is fighting corruption and that rather important aspect of the case isn't even mentioned in the biased headline?

    May 15th, 2012 - 02:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • jerry

    #8 - I do not know the exact size of the canal, but when the Uruguay river and the Parana river come together to form the River Plate between Montevideo and Buenos Aires, it is the widest river in the world. It actually looks like the ocean and not a river.

    May 15th, 2012 - 02:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    Even if Britain wanted to do charity for Uruguay, it can't because the basic problem taking all other political issues aside is that the the canal Uruguay uses is partly in argentine territory, while the other canal is fully in argentine territory.

    So the UK can't help Uruguay, if they tried they would have to enter Argentine territory and we know that is never going to be allowed by Argentina. The only way the UK could is by declaring war. Good luck with world support on that one.

    Now you see how the expansionist era was so important for Argentina. From the Patagonian oil fields and ice fields, to the provinces of Misiones (with 80% of Iguazu falls taken from Brazil), to Formosa province from Paraguay, to having part of the strategic Puna ceded by Bolivia and Chile... To Martin Garcia island from Uruguay, which we know see why it was so relevant.

    Argentina has near complete strategic control of the River Plate (something the UK always wanted to prevent since the time of the Cisplatine War, part of the reason Uruguay was created as a state). We control most of Iguazu falls, control what was half of Paraguay, control 85% of Patagonia which could have been Chilean... have a stake in the metal rich northwest through the Treaty of Atacama we gained territory without firing a shot after Chile, Bolivia and Peru fought it out.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_border_dispute

    We didn't just annex and take any lands, we took strategic lands on all quadrants, and went from being the size of France to the size of Western Europe. And resource and geographically strategic lands at that.

    May 15th, 2012 - 02:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Simon68

    I think we'll probably find that RioVia is a company owned by the Old Fund and can be traced back to Vice President Boudou. BTW Boskalis doesn't sound a particularly Dutch sounding surname.

    May 15th, 2012 - 02:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • jerry

    I believe that it is a Belgium company.

    May 15th, 2012 - 02:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Simon68

    Vanderbroele is Belgian!!!

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    And btw, Isla Martin Garcia is an EXCLAVE. People should look up what that means.

    It was also agreed (by Uruguay), that the island would be a natural reserve. So dredging wouldn't exactly be in line with that treaty.

    So Argentina violates treaties, it gets blasted.

    Argentina respects treaties... it gets blasted!

    At least the rest of the world is consistent (in their BS).

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ChrisR

    It just shows how, yet again, the Big Bad Wolf that is Argentina is bullying little Uruguay.

    If only part of the Martin Garcia did not run across the border we would have a chance but while Timmidman is covering his corrupt countries arse there is no chance the channel will be deepened to 36 feet (Panamax+ requirement).

    Scottie_Kirchnerist: WTF are you rabbiting on about you pratt - you have missed the point completely. Timmidman is NOT fighting corruption - he and his mates are part of it. It's been going on for years.

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Idlehands

    11 tobias

    ....and after all that usurpation what have you managed to do with all that natural wealth?

    A country the size of Western Europe named after a precious metal it is abundant in and yet it has dropped from one of the wealthiest nations in the world to a middle ranking developing nation in the space of 100 years.

    What went wrong?

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    Not usurpation, it was wars and we won. It was treaties which another side agreed upon. If those sides today regret their choices, tough cookie.

    Nothing went wrong, Argentina is only 200. Why did Britain take 700 years to go to the upper rankings of European countries?

    Using British/English history, we are in the year 1100 or so. How powerful was England within Europe then?

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Simon68

    17 Idlehands (#)
    May 15th, 2012 - 03:33 pm

    ARGENTINES!!!!!

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    @19

    You really are asking for it, you scum.

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Idlehands

    “Not usurpation, it was wars and we won. It was treaties which another side agreed upon. If those sides today regret their choices, tough cookie.”

    Ummmmm.....let me think.....what topic could this argument possibly be used in relation to?

    (hint 1850 & 1982)

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    @21

    And you guys use it all the time!! So what's the big deal? Give me a little credit and admit I never have argued that point with your Brits.

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Idlehands

    I dunno - it's hard to tell you nutters apart - you all look the same ;)

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    I know, full set of teeth on argies makes it hard to lay down individual markers.

    Can't say “oh that's Ian he's missing his canine”, or “that's Nigel: overgrown bottom front tooth”.

    May 15th, 2012 - 03:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • UruguayBR

    The Uruguayan newspapers are already calling this a defeat for their government: http://uruguaybr.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/opinion-in-translation-scandal-in-the-martin-garcia-canal/

    Also Argentina's big victory's over Chile came while the Chileans were occupying Lima and had already seized Boliva's coastline. The conflict had nothing to do with Argentina, they just saw they could grab territory when most Chilean troops were in the far north, not really something to be proud of.

    May 15th, 2012 - 04:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Conqueror

    I say that WE should take a role. WE should send in the Royal Navy followed by a fleet of dredgers. If a single argie within 100 miles blinks, we should obliterate the scum. Then we could be friends with Uruguay. All problems solved. No argies. All problems solved. Oh, I forgot. “Argentina would never permit the UK to assist Uruguay”. No argieland = No problem. So many reasons to destroy argieland!

    But there's a good side! “Look, there's an argie forced to swallow all his teeth before chewing his way out of his ass. Whoops. Failed. Still stuck up his own ass. You can tell. Just sniff”.

    May 15th, 2012 - 04:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    @26

    Your Royal Navy will be what's dredged out if you enter argentine territory for no reason.

    May 15th, 2012 - 04:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Stendec

    @18 explain why English history in Europe started in AD900(by your reckoning)? How can you equate the Middle Ages with the present? Absurd.

    Btw - England was ruled by Henry II for much of the 1100's who ruled the Angevin Empire - about half of western Europe.

    May 15th, 2012 - 04:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    @28

    I think that is the most agreed time I have read for the start of a somewhat cohesive “English nation”, culturally and politically.

    May 15th, 2012 - 05:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Teaboy2

    Tobias i think you will find we have right of innocent passage under international maritime law so whether we enter argentine territory to dredge on the way to Uruguay or not, there is nothing you can do about it legally. Besides it would save argentina some money too since you will no longer have to do it.

    Oh and as for “Your Royal Navy will be what's dredged out if you enter argentine territory for no reason.”

    1 - We will have a reason to enter such as dredging the canal

    and

    2 - what the hell you going to do about it TYPE 45 will knock out any attacking air planes on intercepts course before your even in missle range to shoot at our navy ships.

    May 15th, 2012 - 05:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Nightingale

    Argies are so used to bullying its smaller neighbour ,it must gall them enormously that the cant bully 3000 prosperous people on the islands..

    May 15th, 2012 - 06:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    the picture says it all.

    two nits,
    fighting over the ice rink .

    May 15th, 2012 - 07:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • reality check

    Can anyone explain why the Uruguayans do not simple dredge their side of the river?

    May 15th, 2012 - 07:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    money perhaps.

    May 15th, 2012 - 07:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Condorito

    @tobias
    Australia is only 200 and it seems to be doing fine.

    Full set of teeth?! You don't get out of Mendoza much do you. Head out in to some of the villages in your own north west and report back.

    May 16th, 2012 - 12:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • tobias

    Australia is only 100 and guess what, at 100 we were supposedly doing quite well, right?

    And the only country in Latin America to ever have been considered any sort of world power in prosperity terms.

    Chile may have done well in the last 20 years, but it is nowhere to were Argentina was in the period 1880-1950. Neither is Brazil, certainly not Mexico.

    So now you are going to tell us that in Chile everyone has their teeth. I do have TVN, you surely must know.

    May 16th, 2012 - 02:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Conqueror

    @27 WE have several VERY good reasons. 1. YOU are waging war against the Falkland Islands. 2. YOU are breaching several international laws. 3. YOU are scum and need to be taught a lesson. 4. WE don't like YOU!
    @36 Sorry, Australia can date itself back to 1788. But then, who cares about dates? But let's try some. The Argentine Declaration of Independence was issued by the Congress of Tucumán in 1816. Didn't argies celebrate their bicentennial in 2010? Six years early, wouldn't you say? “A new constitution was enacted in 1826, during the War with Brazil, and Bernardino Rivadavia was appointed the first President of Argentina. This constitution was soon rejected by the provinces, due to its centralist bias, and Rivadavia resigned shortly after.” So no real argieland until at least 1826. “the promulgation of the Constitution of Argentina of 1853.” So NO argieland until 1853 BUT “Buenos Aires seceded from the Confederation and became the State of Buenos Aires.” STILL no argieland. Finally “Buenos Aires rejoined the Confederation, and Bartolomé Mitre was elected the first president of the unified country in 1862.” So argieland misplaced its bicentennial by 52 years. And YOU want to be critical of Australia. At least, unlike argieland, Australia is respected around the world. Which century do you reckon argieland will achieve that?

    May 16th, 2012 - 10:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • GreekYoghurt

    You cannot really compare Australia and Argentina. Australia is good, Argentina is simply annoying.

    May 16th, 2012 - 02:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Condorito

    @36
    Did Australia not recently celebrate their bicentenary?
    Any way don’t split hairs. The point is, two new world countries, with loads of land, minerals and cows – one doing spectacularly well and the other...well not so well.

    You mentioned the teeth not me. I was not going to make any such claim.
    ---
    As a matter of curiosity, after the tax was imposed on exporting beef, did beef get less expensive in Argentina? I am just wondering if there was some sort of positive result from the measure.

    May 16th, 2012 - 03:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Simon68

    39 Condorito (#)
    May 16th, 2012 - 03:12 pm

    No the price of meat has steadily risen without a break.

    May 16th, 2012 - 04:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Condorito

    That's a shame. I thought that maybe with less export, the surplus would be dumped on the internal market, lowering prices.

    May 16th, 2012 - 05:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Simon68

    Although its an exageration to say that all cattle farmers have gone over to soy, its pretty nearly true, a lot of meat producers decided that government measures made meat production un-economical and turned to soy. So less meat to put on the market, higher prices to the consumer....

    May 16th, 2012 - 05:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Condorito

    More tofu for all!

    May 16th, 2012 - 05:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0

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