By Mike Summers (*)
The reports on the reaction in the United Kingdom to the death of Baroness Thatcher have shown a clear contrast between those who approved of her policies and those that did not. This is understandable and is no doubt true of any prime minister. However, here in the Falkland Islands there is very little difference of opinion. Margaret Thatcher is held in high regard and with deep affection by Islanders, for she is someone to whom we owe much.
Brazil's top two economic policymakers warned on Friday that high inflation will not be tolerated. Central bank chief Alexandre Tombini and Finance Minister Guido Mantega said at separate events the government will not hesitate in taking measures to combat high inflation.
Madrid's conservative-run city council said on Friday it wants to name a street in the Spanish capital after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whose legacy has proved as polarising in death as she was in life.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Friday that the government intends to double per capita income by 2022, when Brazil celebrates 200 years of independence from Portugal.
The way the Falkland Islands have developed into a self governing and self financing country and the recent referendum with its strong message, attracted genuine attention of another two countries visited by a Falklands’ delegation.
Latinamerican members of government, opinion formers and academics have been genuinely interested in hearing the Falkland Islanders’ point of view and the recent referendum results, revealed Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Gavin Short.
By Gwynne Dyer - Margaret Thatcher was the woman who began the shift to the right that has affected almost all the countries of the West in the past three decades. But it is an open question whether even the crash of 2008 and the ensuing prolonged recession have finally ended the long reign of her ideas in Western politics.
In his closing massive campaign rally in Caracas, Thursday evening incumbent candidate Nicolas Maduro pledged that next Sunday he will win the Venezuelan presidential election and later will take over the presidency of Mercosur.
“My deepest apologies to those whom I might have hurt with my words in recent days” said Uruguayan president Jose Mujica in his daily broadcast on Thursday, the first public apology for the controversial expressions he used last week to refer to Argentine president Cristina Fernandez and her late husband Nestor Kirchner.
Argentina’s football legend Diego Maradona was present on Thursday afternoon in down-town Caracas at the closing campaign rally of Venezuelan incumbent presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro but with a special touch: a red t-shirt promoting the re-re-election of Cristina Fernandez in 2015.