By Joshua Peck - The number of cruise passengers visiting the Falkland Islands is projected to increase for the third season in a row. Each tourist season, lasting from October to March, sees numerous cruise vessels arrive in the Falklands, with passengers typically disembarking for a single day onshore. The last cruise vessel for the current season is scheduled to arrive on 31st March.
Mar del Plata bishop Monsignor Antonio Marino met with the swimmers that are planning to cross the Falklands' sound, or Identity Crossing, and blessed rosaries they will be taking to the Argentine memorial in Darwin.
Argentina's foreign minister Susana Malcorra made a quick working visit to Cuba where she held talks with her peer Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla to address bilateral issues and also met the representatives from the Colombia-Farc peace talks which are taking place in Havana.
The private visit to Paraguay of Falkland Islands lawmaker Phyllis Rendell and her strong statements regarding sovereignty and the future of the Islands had an immediate reaction from the Argentine ambassador in Asunción Eduardo Zuain, who described the statements as an unnecessary provocation.
The member of the Falklands/Malvinas legislative assembly Phyllis Rendell on a private visit to Paraguay openly stated that the South Atlantic archipelago claimed by Argentina is a British Overseas Territory and underlined that the sovereignty issue was settled with a war between the two sides over thirty years ago.
In rare coincidence with the International Women´s Day, the Falkland Islands celebrated ”Tussac Tuesday'', the Poa flabellata grass, one of the most valuable native plants to farmers and wildlife in the Islands. It is palatable all year round and can provide good supplementary forage for cattle, horses and sheep.
A group of Brazilian academics, students and journalists recently visited the Falkland Islands, invited by the local elected government. One of the visitors, Guilheme Lacerda wrote a small piece in the social network about what the describes as an incredible experience.
Uruguay's former president Luis Lacalle Herrera said that an air bridge between Montevideo and the Falklands/Malvinas Islands is 'viable' and was optimistic about such an opportunity in the near future.
The Argentine government announced it downgraded the Malvinas Islands department at the Foreign ministry, but minister Susana Malcorra insisted that the sovereignty claim over the South Atlantic Islands remains as strong as ever and will advance in different forms, probably more subtle, and with Gibraltar as a reference.
A UN watchdog group criticized Ban Ki-moon for his blessings to the UN committee charged with “decolonizing” among others, the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar, at the same time as the 24-nation group elected mass murdering Syria and human rights abusing Venezuela to leadership posts.