MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mrs. Kirchner forced to cancel meeting with PM Brown

No Heathrow luggage claim for Pte. Cristina Fernandez

Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner cancelled her coming trip to Great Britain because of the worsening of the farmers' 17 days conflict. Mrs. Kirchner was expecting to talk about Argentina's Falklands' claims in London.

The president was scheduled to travel on Wednesday to London to participate in a summit of progressive parties organized by the leader of the British Labor Party Prime Minister Gordon Brown. According to the Buenos Aires press the decision to suspend the trip happens when talks to arrange a private interview between the Argentine and British leaders were "well advanced". Although it was not an official visit, but rather of political parties with common ideas, Mrs. Kirchner was planning to bring up the issue of the Falkland Islands and sovereignty talks with PM Brown. Five years ago a few weeks after taking office President Nestor Kirchner was invited to a similar forum in London by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the Argentine president brought up the issue in a private interview. "The president considers the crisis with the camp sufficiently grave as to have to remain in the country to closely follow the conflict", said official sources from Government House. Apparently the Kirchner couple after assessing the situation concluded that the "farmers conflict still has some time ahead and won't be solved in the coming days". Cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez in combination with Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Taiana gave instructions to dismount the whole trip and Falklands operation which had originated expectations in Argentina given the "sensitive" second quarter, on the twenty sixth anniversary of the South Atlantic conflict. A meeting and lunch of Mrs. Kirchner with French president Nicholas Sarkozy, the following Monday in Paris has also been cancelled, as so has cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez trip to Washington, the first step of a fence mending operation with the President George Bush administration. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on the campaign trail and in her inaugural speech last December had promised to give foreign affairs a greater emphasis (contrary to her husband President Kirchner who preferred domestic politics). Two items of her planned agenda are a better bilateral understanding with Washington and some kind of agreement with European countries, which are crucial to renegotiate pending debts with the Club of Paris that should help reopen for Argentina both the credit market and investments currently frozen since the 2001/02 melting of the economy and default on sovereign bonds.