
As part of the Organization of American States (OAS) policy to help member countries combat illicit trafficking of firearms the organization this week donated a firearm marking machine to the government of Peru.

Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry won overwhelming confirmation from his fellow US senators as secretary of state, succeeding Hillary Clinton as the top US diplomat. The vote was 94-3. Dissenters were Republicans Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Texans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. Kerry.

Cuba formally assumed Monday the presidency of the Community of Latinamerican and Caribbean States during the group’s summit in Chile calling for regional integration and independence from the United States.

Argentina claimed at the CELAC summit in Chile that the UK has converted the Falkland Islands into one of the “most militarized territories in the world” with the sole purpose of exploiting the natural resources of the Islands and control access to Antarctica.

Vice-president Nicolas Maduro, read an eleven page letter he said was written by ailing President Hugo Chavez in which the Venezuelan leader calls for Latinamerican unit, praises Cuba’s chairmanship of CELAC group and takes time to support Argentina’s claims over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

The Community of Latinamerican and Caribbean States, CELAC, is “no threat” but rather a useful component for the Organization of American States, OAS, said Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza during his attendance to the Celac summit meetings.

By John Fowler - Frequently controversial newspaper columnist, Matthew Parris, who was a member of the British Parliament during 1982, has not been noted in the past as a supporter of the Falkland Islands in their struggle to avoid annexation by Argentina. It was something of a surprise therefore to read an article by him in The Times of January 26 entitled Argentina’s hypocrites is steeped in blood.

Dutch Queen Beatrix, who turns 75, announced she was abdicating in favour of her son, Prince Willem-Alexander, who will become king on April 30. Willem-Alexander, 45, is married to Argentine born Princess Maxima Zorreguieta and has three young children.

“Fortress Falklands, life under siege in Britain’s last outpost”, Graham Bound’s newest book on the subject of the Falkland Islands has been published in Spanish in Uruguay, allowing Argentines to, “learn a thing or two that might surprise them,” Graham told Penguin News this week.

Argentine Jewish community organizations, DAIA and AMIA strongly rejected on Monday the government of President Cristina Fernandez decision to sign an agreement with Iran for the naming of a special ‘truth’ commission referred to the 1994 attack to a Jewish organization in Buenos Aires which left 85 dead and hundreds injured.