By John Fowler (*) - I handed the family's passports to a rather stern-looking official behind a desk, while my wife and mother-in-law passed through into the departure lounge with our daughter, who was just a few months short of her first birthday. Along with the passports, I also handed over three white identity cards. These were issued by the country through which we were in transit on our way to holidays in Britain from our home in the Falkland Islands.
Negotiations must start from a position of trust and “it is hard to trust a Government who so easily break their word, and who deny our right to exist as a people”, said Falklands lawmaker Roger Edwards in response to the announcement by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on direct air-links to the Falklands.
Falkland Islanders reacted with skepticism and further distrust to the latest announcements by Argentine president Cristina Fernandez regarding air links with Argentina, while Falklands’ elected lawmakers said the proposal was too ‘muddled’ and with errors for the local government to respond.
President Cristina Fernandez said Argentina will seek to re-negotiate the 1999 accord with the UK which allows for a weekly flight connecting the Falklands Islands and Chile, and replace it with three schedules a week but from Buenos Aires and in the country’s flag carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas.
The Union of South American Nations, Unasur presidents have been invited by Argentina to a ceremony in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, next 2 April when the official beginning of the Malvinas war three decades ago.
President Cristina Fernández rejected the possibility that a delegation of Argentine sportsmen may not fly to London to attend the 2012 Olympics as part of an Argentine boycott in response to the United Kingdom’s refusal to discuss the Malvinas Islands sovereignty.
Uruguayan President José Mujica admitted trade relations with Argentina are “very complicated” because of the import restrictions implemented by the government of President Cristina Fernández and did not discard ‘mirror’ measures to counter
Argentina’s largest energy company YPF, dropped the most in the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange’s leading share index on Wednesday after the federal tax agency banned it from importing and exporting because of an unpaid tax bill.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández will make an official visit to Chile next month, amidst a power struggle as both Argentina and the UK struggle to gather support from the international community in the Falklands/Malvinas Islands controversy.
Argentina’s organized labour hit back at President Cristina Fernandez and expressed concern over what it described the “escalation” of government repression and hoped the country keeps to state policies of persuasion and unrestricted respect for human rights.