The Argentine government has condemned what it terms clear efforts of destabilization in Venezuela, following Wednesday's clashes which left three dead and dozens injured on the streets of Caracas.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández attended on Thursday evening the Favaloro Foundation Hospital in Buenos Aires for a medical check-up, including a brain scan and an electrocardiogram which were described as satisfactory.
The Argentine Foreign Ministry denied in a statement released on Thursday that Buenos Aires sea port authorities threatened Bermuda registered 'Queen Victoria' Cunard cruise ship with hefty fines if it did not lower its “red duster” flag, the ensign for the United Kingdom merchant vessels.
The cross-party delegation of Uruguayan parliamentarians currently visiting the Falkland Islands appear quite unmoved by what their leader Jaime Trobo described as the “dust storm” that their visit had created both at home in Uruguay and in neighbouring Argentina.
According to reports in the British media, Cunard's 'Queen Victoria' was warned it faced hefty fines if the cruise continued to fly the red ensign while in the port of Buenos Aires. This has led to a strong reaction from the Foreign Office which described the incident as an 'unacceptable example of harassment and intimidation” and anticipated it will be raising the incident with the Argentine authorities.
Ambassador Fiona Clouder has taken her post as the new British ambassador in Chile. On taking the post Ms Clouder reaffirmed the close relations of UK with Chile, one of the most important countries in the region.
At least four people have been killed, including a police officer, after thousands of Venezuelans in two different marches, opposing and supporting President Nicolas Maduro took to the streets of Caracas on Wednesday following two weeks of anti-government protests across the country.
Minister of State for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Rt. Honourable Hugo Swire currently making his first visit to the Falklands reiterated on Wednesday his previously expressed opinion that the attitude of the present Argentine government towards the Islands denies to the people of Argentina an opportunity for economic growth as well as denying the fundamental right of self-determination to the population of the Islands.
Argentina's inflation in January climbed to 4.61% and 30.78% in the last twelve months according to the average from private consultants estimates which are released every month by opposition lawmakers in what is known as the 'Congressional index'.
The US Senate has sent to the president a bill to raise the country's borrowing limit for another year, ending a series of political standoffs over the issue. The chamber passed the bill on a 55-43 party line vote a day after it narrowly passed the House of Representatives.