MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina/UK Navy chiefs embrace in Valparaiso

Two Falklands/Malvinas veterans who fought on opposite sides and now command their countries' navies embraced amicably on Wednesday when they met at a naval exhibition in Valparaíso, Chile.

Admiral Jorge Omar Godoy commander of the Argentine Navy and Jonathan Band First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff are currently visiting Chile's Naval Exhibition, Exponaval 2006, which covers the fields of defense, technology and maritime trade.

The commanders' private meeting originally scheduled to last twenty minutes finally extended for over hour and a half.

Following the meeting both officers were reluctant to talk to the press but Admiral Godoy in a brief statement said relations between Argentina and the UK "are on process".

"This is a process, because confidence can't be imposed; confidence is an inspirational process".

Admirals Godoy and Band first met during the presentation of the magazine "Latitude South; trust in the sea", which is jointly edited by the Navies of Argentina and Chile.

Adrmiral Band's only public activity was last Tuesday when he was part of the conference panel on "Globalization and its impact on maritime strategy". The first part, "Competing Models for Naval Development" was by Professor Geoffrey Till, Dean of Academic Studies at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Defense Academy of the United Kingdom, which was followed by Admiral Band's "A Practitioner Perspective on Maritime Security".

The Exponaval 2006 edition has attracted 150 corporations from 25 different countries representing over 300 brand names from the industry. Naval vessels plus delegations from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa are also present.

Organizers expect deals totaling 800 million US dollars to be completed during the week long event.