MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina complains to Britain

Argentina yesterday officially complained to Britain about a Foreign Office warning to British tourists about the dangers of visiting Argentina at the time of the Summit of the Americas.

But even as Argentine ambassador to London Federico Mirré admitted "disagreement" between the two countries he also tried to play down the situation.

The incident was sparked earlier in the week when the Foreign Office published a warning on its website about visiting Argentina between November three and six, when the summit will be held in Mar del Plata.

The warning is issued to make British travellers aware about the "risk of indiscriminate terrorist attacks against civilian objectives, including places frequented by foreigners." It goes on to recommend travellers in Argentina "be alert and take precautions." But it specifies that "most tourists who visit Argentina are free of any danger."

To fundament the warning, a mention is made of a number of bombs that went off in 2004 and 2005 in US-owned banks and shops in Buenos Aires City and its suburbs. The warning also mentions a "low intensity explosion" on October 12 at a branch of HSBC bank in Mar del Plata.

The Foreign Office release says the HSBC bomb "could be linked to George W. Bush's visit to Mar del Plata."

In yesterday's complaint, submitted by Mirré following an order from the Foreign Ministry, Argentina requests the Foreign Office to correct the "false" information given to British citizens regarding the possibility of "terrorist attacks" in Argentina at the time of US President George W. Bush.

It was announced yesterday that Bush will arrive to Mar del Plata on November 3. He will leave on the fifth. Although the summit spans four days, the 34 heads-of-state will be meeting on November 4 and 5.

Once the complaint was handed in, and after admitting the existence of a rift, Mirré requested that the incident "not be magnified." "What Argentina has done is give its interpretation of the situation and say ?look, it is not exactly like this. You should look at the current Argentine reality,'" said Mirré. The ambassador added that the "dialogue" between both countries continues to be "intense and fruitful."

"If you are driving a truck with forty cows worth 80,000 dollars on it and when you take a curve you scrape a post, some kind of mark will be left on the chassis. But the truck will still be in use and the owner and the driver will be happy," Mirré said through metaphor. He went on to say, "What we have had is a scrape with a fence post, but the truck is still running."

"Argentina has simply wanted to give its point of view to Britain. They will see what they should do," repeated the ambassador.

"The number of British tourists in Argentina constantly goes up. The problem we have now, if we can call it a problem, is that travel agencies are putting on more pressure for more flight seats to be made available." (Bs. Aires Herald)

More info see: www.fco.gov.uk