Thirty years after the Falkland Islands conflict, the South Atlantic Islands are the focus of a “black gold rush” as a string of exploration companies seek to be the first to find commercially viable reserves in the region, writes the London Express City & Business.
The British government said it would resist any attempts to coerce the Falkland Islands through economic or other pressures, and revealed it is holding ‘productive discussions’ with Uruguay, Chile and Brazil to ensure trade and commercial links between the Islands and South America are not compromised by political declarations.
Rockhopper Exploration announced Monday that it has completed its successful round of drillings in Falkland Islands waters with the Ocean Guardian rig.
Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega takes office for a third time on Tuesday with an ample majority in Congress and in the presence of close allies such as Iran’s Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez lavished each other with praise on Monday, mocked US disapproval and joked about having an atomic bomb at their disposal.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resumed on Sunday his weekly television and radio broadcast after a seven-month pause. Chavez's program, Alo Presidente, had been halted while he was receiving treatment for cancer.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff signed the decree for the construction of five new hydroelectric dams in the Amazon basin and readies for a renewed attack from domestic and international environmentalists against the project.
Faced with media controversy following Argentine President Cristina Fernandez thyroid cancer surgery that resulted in a “false positive” case, that is minor benign non cancerous tumours in spite of the original diagnosis, the Argentine Executive Chief of Staff Oscar Parrilli revealed that the president had ordered him to “tell it all” regarding the 22 December operation.
British Prime Minister David Cameron discarded any Falkland Islands sovereignty negotiations with Argentina and said that his government is permanently vigilant about the protection of the Islands and their defence.
Foreign Affairs ministers from Chile, Cuba and Venezuela begin discussions Monday in Santiago to advance in the implementation of the recently created Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Celac.