Populism in Latinamerica has moved from the dictatorships of past decades to the so called “delegative” democracies such as those of Venezuela and Argentina, according to a group of Latam intellectuals meeting in Peru in an international seminar, “Latin America: opportunities and challenges”.
Peruvian ministers openly disagreed over the recent decision to turn back the Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose, in solidarity with Argentina and its sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands.
Argentine former soldiers deployed to Patagonia during the Malvinas War decided to occupy the Torre Monumental (formerly know as the “Torre de los Ingleses”, or Tower of the English) in Retiro, as they continue with their claim for official recognition of their “war veteran status.”
Argentina and Repsol-YPF oil corporation again clashed on Wednesday over the future of the Spanish owned company while members of President Cristina Fernandez administration said measures “can not be discarded” thus re-launching fears about further government actions.
Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman said on Tuesday “there is no country” in the world that can say Argentina is protectionist and claimed it is the G20 member that saw imports soar most between 2010 and 2011.
During a live press conference on Tuesday, Argentine President Cristina Fernández thanked “the Peruvian government and population” for their decision to leave without effect the scheduled, but controversial, visit of a British frigate “in support of the Argentine sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands.”
Peruvian Foreign Affairs minister Rafael Roncagliolo denied President Ollanta Humala had accepted an invitation to visit London next month, Lima’s El Comercio reported Tuesday in the front page.
In a display of “Latin American support for Argentina’s legitimate rights,” the Peruvian government announced on Monday its decision to render void the protocol visit of a British frigate scheduled to dock in a Peruvian port this week.
Argentina’s truckers called Monday an indefinite strike to demand higher pay rates, parking their rigs in protest just as exporters were counting on them to haul freshly harvested soybeans to port.
“You were right, or at least that is what Argentines I come across in the street tell me”, said former Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle. In effect Batlle became world famous in 2002 for his phrase describing the River Plate neighbours: “Argentines are a bunch of crooks, from the first to the last, from A to Z”.