MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

HMS Sheffield offered to Chile

The Royal Navy frigate Type 22 HMS Sheffield recently decommissioned has been offered on sale to Chile, British Ambassador Greg Faulkner confirmed this weekend to the Chilean press.Film team meets veterans; Postal conflict brewing in Chile

"We've told Chilean authorities that the Royal Navy is being reorganized in line with our requirements and we now have a vessel, HMS Sheffield, available. Naturally we would like to see a Chilean interest in this and other vessels, since we're interested in selling", Ambassador Faulkner told "El Mercurio", Santiago's main newspaper, adding that Britain wants to fully recover traditional strong naval relations with Chile. Last January president Ricardo Lagos rejected the Chilean Navy's "Trident" program to build frigates with German technology, an undertaking that would have demanded almost a billion US dollars, and said the country would be purchasing second hand vessels. Chile currently has six destroyers and frigates averaging 35 years and the Navy has been requesting replacements. HMS Sheffield F 96 is the sixth Type 22 frigate built for the Royal Navy and was commissioned in 1988. With a 4,850 tons displacement and a crew of 240, it replaced the destroyer HMS Sheffield lost during the Falklands conflict. According to El Mercurio the Royal Navy will also be decommissioning a batch of Type 23 frigates for which the Chileans have an interest. The Chilean press also pointed out that the country's interest in British vessels follows a recent purchase by neighbouring Peru of four Italian "Lupo" Type frigates equipped with missiles. The operation involves 100 million US dollars plus the refurbishing of two of four similar frigates of Italian origin from a previous purchase. The Peruvian decision occurs in spite of President Alejandro Toledo's several public appeals for a regional disarmament, underlines the Chilean press.

Film team meets veterans

The Argentine team recently back from the Falklands where it spent two weeks filming for the production of "Enlightened by fire", underlined the welcome and support given by Islanders. "We were most welcome. People were very kind, they'd invite us to their homes; we even filmed in the Governor's residence and we experienced no inconveniences", Tristán Bauer the film's director stressed to La Nación. "Enlightened by fire" recalls experiences of the 1982 conflict and is being filmed both in Falklands and the south of Argentina in coincidence with the twentieth anniversary. Baure's team, actors Gaston Pauis, Virgina Innocenti and support staff after the Falklands trip had an emotional meeting with the Malvinas former Combatants Organization in La Plata. "The former soldiers were very anxious to hear about the Falklands. Not only were they interested in the filming but in some objects, artefacts from our boys that still could be found in Mount Longdon", revealed Mr. Bauer. "It was a very emotional gathering; in a good sense we were very envious of the trip they did", confessed Hugo Robert, president of the La Plata branch of the Malvinas veterans organization.

Postal conflict brewing in Chile

Chile's Post Office authorities' announcement that it will be drastically cutting its pay roll with the early retirement of 1,600 postal workers in the coming two months has motivated a strong reaction from the union. "This is no moment to be sacking people and massively, so we're closely following the situation and this week we'll begin by appealing to the Department of Labour", warned Arturo Martínez, president of the Workers Unitary Organization. "Because of strong competition from private postal companies and the number of staff, that represent 60% of our operational costs, we have started a process of early retirement for 1,600 workers", indicated the Chilean Post Office General Manager, José Luis Mardones. Mr. Mardones said the process will be done in two stages and "should be over by the end of the year". The plan contemplates the voluntary "incentivated" retirement of staff, plus normal redundancy payments, six months health coverage and re training programs. "Voluntary retirement was discussed with the three postal unions when the last contract", recalled Mr. Mardones.