MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Malvinas”, Kirchner's turf in spite of Bielsa

The Falkland Islands issue will depend directly from President Nestor Kirchner through a “Malvinas Institute” of imminent creation, according to the Buenos Aires daily Ambito Financiero (AF).

When this finally happens since Patagonia is the former Santa Cruz governor's turf and the Falklands an obsession for Mr. Kirchner, Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Rafael Bielsa and his office will gradually undergo what the newspaper describes as a "capitis diminutio".

Although this doesn't mean that Mr. Bielsa will suddenly disappear from the "gruff negotiations" with Britain on tourism, fisheries and air links, the Argentine Chancellery will progressively be postponed from these "most sensitive issues" which lately bristled with the ban on charter flights from Chile and prospects of an understanding for direct charters from Buenos Aires to the Islands, says the article adding that "currently seem frozen because of protests from the kelpers, whom Mr. Bielsa has not treated in a delicate manner".

According to AF, Mr. Bielsa argues he's a team player (like his brother who is Argentina's national soccer team coach) and besides Mr. Kirchner already has decided to have under his direct command such sensitive issues as (personalized) relations with the United States and in the future this could extend to Human Rights and the very special, and most cared after, relation with Brazil.

The newspaper speculates that with Malvinas depending directly from Casa Rosada (Government House), almost certainly future relations with the United Kingdom will also come under President Kirchner's scrutiny.

With malicious irony the article recalls the latest misunderstanding with Brazil, when Mr. Bielsa proclaimed and insisted that Argentina and Brazil had reached a historic agreement regarding the two countries foreign debts. But Itamaraty (Brazilian Foreign Office) denied any confirmation and the outgoing Brazilian Ambassador in Buenos Aires openly discarded the existence of such a pact.

Furthermore, a Brazilian official who apparently did not have kind words for Argentina, according to Mr. Bielsa staff, would be fired by Brazilian President Lula da Silva himself.

In effect Mr. Lula da Silva rang the official?but to confirm him in his post.

However it must be mentioned that Ambito Financiero is the Buenos Aires newspaper that when Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell's recent visit to Buenos Aires confused "proposals" with a definitive "agreement" for the resumption of direct flights from Argentina to the Falklands.

Referring to the incident and talking before the Argentine Senate Mr. Bielsa revealed that "unfortunately" an "erroneous" leak to the Argentine press of "a proposal that Argentina considered adequate" for normalizing commercial flights from the continent to the Islands, impeded the fulfilment of the initiative.