Argentina prepares to commemorate this Sunday the Malvinas War Veterans and Fallen Day, which according to the official calendar marks the 35th anniversary of the start of the 1982 war when the Falklands were invaded by Argentine forces, leading to a 74-day conflict, which left 907 dead, (649 Argentines, 255 British and three Falkland Islanders).
Ambassador in Argentina Mark Kent said that the UK process of leaving the EU will be slow and in the meantime as it opens to new alliances, new markets, Britain will be looking for closer relations with Argentina, and Mercosur, not geared by protectionism but rather the opposite, an inclusive globalization.
Argentina has few funds available to replace an outdated military fleet beyond buying 12 Beechraft Texan aircraft to train pilots, Defense Minister Julio Martinez admitted. He said actual plans were more modest than those reported by media in Argentina and Brazil in recent months, which said the government was interested in buying war planes from abroad, including from Brazil's Embraer or Mig fighters from Russia.
Argentine Finance minister Nicolas Dujovne said on Tuesday that the economy's recovery at the start of the year was based on investment and not in consumption. It is a heterogeneous recovery, with performance in different sectors: government social expenditure was up 70% but manufacturing was down 80%, mainly because of the Brazilian recession, and domestic contraction, admitted the minister.
Argentina's economic activity grew in January year to year. Economic activity was 1.1% percent higher in January than twelve months before, the first year-on-year growth since last March, according to the latest release from the revamped stats office, Indec.
Argentina's official poverty index in the second half of 2016 dropped to 30.3%, an estimated 12.7 million people, from 32.2% in the first half according to the country's stats office Indec. The 30.3% index includes 6.1% of indigence, which is also below the 6.3% of the first half. The drop means that 800.000 people are no longer in the poverty category index.
Holland is prepared to contribute to the Falklands/Malvinas dialogue between Argentina and UK, once Britain has definitively left the European Union, said on Tuesday foreign minister Susana Malcorra who is part of the official delegation of president Mauricio Macri state visit to the Netherlands.
Argentine government offices and dependencies don't seem to be able to get things right. When they publish maps of Argentina including the disputed South Atlantic Islands, on several occasions they have identified them as the Falkland Islands, and when not simply forgot to include them.
Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra has announced that Argentina has definitive international support for its defined continental shelf limits, with the exception of the Falklands/Malvinas, South Georgia, in dispute with the UK, and those covered by the Antarctic Treaty, which are not considered by the UN because of a sovereignty litigation or an international treaty.
Punta Arenas Austral Ports Company, EPA, was part of the Chilean stand at the Seatrade Cruise Global fair which took place in mid March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and attracts the best of the cruise industry, operators and port terminals from all the world.