
By Klaus Dodds (*) - Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s death does not represent an opportunity to resolve the long-standing sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, or Islas Malvinas. If anything it is a reminder of how entrenched her legacy is to this particular aspect of British foreign and security policy.

Followers of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinocher published two obituaries in the country’s leading newspaper expressing their condolences on the death of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom they describe as “an extraordinary stateswoman” and friend of Chile “in very difficult moments in recent history”

By Terry Karl (*) - The death of Margaret Thatcher will not change the necessity for or the timing of negotiations on the Falklands/Malvinas issue. This political football has re-emerged repeatedly – regardless of the leaders in power – usually for domestic reasons in both Argentina and the United Kingdom. There is little political will for a settlement in the short-term on either side, especially now that offshore oil is publicly and definitively in the picture.

The New York Times has introduced a new section called The Opinion Pages, Room for Debate and this week’s theme was “The Falkland Islands without Thatcher”. For that purpose it invited six opinions related to the issue.

Argentina’s state oil and gas company YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio announced that fuel production could drop 7% because of a fire at its refinery in La Plata. A return to full operations at the 180.000 bpd facility is expected in 30-45 days time.

Election fever in Argentina: the administration of President Cristina Fernandez froze the price of gasoline and diesel sold at service stations for six months and convinced banks to cut interest payments on arrears. Last month supermarket chains and other suppliers agreed to extend the current price freeze.

The opposition candidate in Venezuela’s next Sunday’s presidential again pounded on his country’s foreign policy and claimed that Argentina has a pending debt of 13 billion dollars arising from oil contracts.

The Argentine government remains silent on the death last Monday of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, but several lawmakers, former officials and Malvinas veterans organizations did have something say and not only linked to the Falklands war and the sinking of the Argentine cruiser ‘Belgrano’ in May 1982.

Brazil’s oil and gas Petrobras said Argentina needs clear rules to foster investments if it wants to develop its unconventional oil and gas resources.

The death of Baroness Thatcher, Prime Minister when the recovery of the Falklands by a British Task Force did not inspire a single word from the Argentine government, but other Latinamerican leaders and countries sent their condolences and praised the courage and determination of the Iron Lady.