Bolivian president Evo Morales said the Malvinas Islands are Argentine and gave full support to his peer Cristina Fernandez siding with Mercosur in the dispute with the UK over the South Atlantic Islands sovereignty and the latest decision to bar all Falklands flagged vessels from regional ports.
Brazil's government is ready to respond to Argentine trade restrictions introduced this week but will evaluate the impact of the measures before making any retaliatory moves, trade officials said Friday.
Argentine opposition lawmakers presented December’s consumer inflation index based in the analysis of nine private agencies, which showed a 1.9% increase over the previous month and totalling 22.81% for the twelve months of 2011, roughly double the official index.
Speaking at a press conference from Washington DC on Thursday, IMF acting director of External Relations Gerry Rice said the organization’s directors “will meet in late January or early February to analyze the progress made in Argentina’s statistics”.
While Argentina’s Mercosur trade partners have adopted a cautious attitude regarding the latest measures that make it more cumbersome and bureaucratic to sell to Argentina, the country’s manufacturers and importers have warned of the consequences and called for a more balanced approach to the issue.
Chile ratified this week that vessels flying the Malvinas flag will continue to be barred from Chilean ports and that the country’s position relative to the issue has not changed and denies the existence of a blockade. A brief statement from the Chilean Foreign Affairs ministry indirectly refers to the latest statement by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague.
In an official communiqué Uruguay ratified full support for Argentina’s Malvinas sovereignty claim and underlined that the barring of Malvinas’ flagged vessel from Uruguayan ports stands and “has not changed an iota”.
LAN Airlines announced that “due to a decision by the (Argentine) national aeronautical authorities,” the company has been forced to reschedule flights leaving from the Buenos Aires City Aeroparque Metropolitan airport bound for Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile.
As the UK applies pressure on Mercosur countries so they allow the entry to vessels flying the Malvinas flag, Argentine ruling Victory Front lawmaker Carlos Kunkel said on Wednesday that Argentina “must be politically persistent while maintaining a constant defence” on its claims over the sovereignty of the islands.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández is recovering much faster than anticipated from her thyroid surgery and on Wednesday actively discussed a range of government issues with Vice-President Amado Boudou and Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina, amongst others.