Argentina

• Wednesday, December 28th 2011 - 03:30 UTC

  UK ambassador in Chile “concerned” with “economic blockade” on the Falklands

  

  The British Ambassador to Chile, Jon Benjamin, expressed on Tuesday UK’s “concern” over “countries that have joined” the Mercosur bloc in their decision to support Argentina, by putting in place a ban on ships flying the Malvinas Islands’ flag from docking at their ports.

• Wednesday, December 28th 2011 - 01:13 UTC

  Argentine president to undergo surgery for papillary thyroid cancer next week

  

  Argentine president Cristina Fernandez has tested positive for papillary thyroid cancer and will undergo surgery next January 4. The Argentine leader will be taking a leave of absence until January 24th, announced on Tuesday the Executive spokesperson Alfredo Scoccimarro.

• Tuesday, December 27th 2011 - 13:57 UTC

  Argentine Media bill: “a dictatorship couldn’t have done it better”

  

  The conservative and influential Brazilian newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo in an editorial described the Argentine government as an “austral democradura” (authoritarian regime) which is sponsoring legislation “to terrorize the media”.

• Tuesday, December 27th 2011 - 13:53 UTC

  Argentine human rights reference openly criticizes the Anti-Terrorism law

  

  The president of Argentina’s Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo organization, Estela de Carlotto, has joined Justice Raúl Zaffaroni and other sectors from the country in criticizing the recently passed Anti-terrorism Law.

• Tuesday, December 27th 2011 - 07:04 UTC

  Chile confirms it supports Mercosur resolution barring Falklands’ flagged vessels

  

  Chilean government Secretary General Andres Chadwick denied on Monday any official message from Britain or from Spain regarding Chilean support for the resolution that bars vessels flying the Malvinas flag from Mercosur ports, reports La Tercera from Santiago.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 18:07 UTC

  “Except for Malvinas, we have a very good dialogue with the UK”, says Almagro

  

  Leaving aside the current diplomatic situation with the UK because of the Uruguayan government decision to bar Malvinas’ flagged vessels from local ports, “we have a very good dialogue with Great Britain” said Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 17:25 UTC

  “Falkland Islands don’t want to join Argentina”

  

  From Monday's Globe and Mail (*)
  The Falkland Islands, a windswept archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, are a British Overseas Territory, and have been since 1833. The 3,000 inhabitants of this Island are proud to be British subjects, and no amount of Argentine huffing or puffing will change that.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 17:23 UTC

  ARA Belgrano was heading to the Falklands, secret papers reveal

  

  By Thomas Harding, The Telegraph Defense Correspondent. The following article referred to the major naval incident of the Falklands’ conflict was published Monday 26 December. Top secret papers are set to prove that the warship ARA Belgrano was heading into the Falkland's exclusion zone when it was sunk in May 1982, and not heading back to port as the Argentines claimed.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 11:27 UTC

  “People must know full facts” about Argentina’s intentions in the Falklands

  

  Many Members of Parliament and in the Lords, from all parties, are totally committed to standing up for the Falkland Islands and rebutting the actions of Argentina, according to Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell and Secretary of the Falkland Islands Group in Westminster. He added people must know the true facts and intentions behind Argentina’s actions.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 11:21 UTC

  Falklands’ flagged vessels: Spanish fishermen call on Madrid to fight Argentine blackmail

  

  The President of the Spanish Association of Marine Fishing Officers (Aetinape), José Manuel Muniz, has asked the new Spanish government to get involved and act against the pressure placed on Falklands-flagged vessels by the Argentines, according to an article in the Galician newspaper Faro de Vigo, which examined the Spanish reaction to the ban on the entry of Falklands flagged vessels to Mercosur ports.