The following article from the Sydney Morning Herald was written by Chris Zappone, who recently visited the Falkland Islands as a guest of the local government and the Foreign Office.The Falkland Islands are not an easy place to reach. Flights come only weekly. Cruise ships making the trip brave frigid seas, freezing nights and recently, harassment from Argentine dockworkers.
Argentina’s ongoing attempts to strangle the Falkland Islands economy by intimidating cruise vessels from calling at Stanley and other islands has been picked up by the Daily Mail in an article written by Ian Drury.
UK Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne turned down on Friday an invitation sent by Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman to visit Argentina. Timerman had hoped to meet with the UK government official in Buenos Aires when Browne makes his trip to the Falkland Islands next week.
The Uruguayan government through the Ministry of Defence gave the green light to a local air cargo company, Airclass which requested authorization to make a commercial flight to the Falkland Islands sometime this month.
The Economist latest edition includes a piece on April 2nd 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. The ensuing war Britain fought to recover them still colors UK and Argentine domestic politics
Argentina’s ever more aggressive rhetoric challenging the Falkland Islands sovereignty underlines the significance of the right to self determination, said Sukey Cameron the Falklands’ elected government representative in London.
Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro said that the Uruguayan government does not oppose trade with the Falkland Islands and any undertaking to that effect by the private sector is welcome since “Uruguay does not agree with any commercial or economic blockade of the Islands”.
United Kingdom’s Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne on a two-day visit to Chile criticized what he called the “economic blockade” to the Falklands Islands by saying it “wasn’t right” and again reaffirmed the right of self determination for the Islanders.
FOR the Falklands to be short of bananas as a result of Argentina’s bully-boy blockade and trade restrictions is understandable. For Argentina to run out of bananas you’d think would be impossible in a sub-continent which grows millions of them. But a few weeks ago, they had no bananas in Buenos Aires shops. Only the incompetent Argentines could achieve the impossible. It’s not just bananas they are slipping up on.
Chilean Foreign Affairs minister Alfredo Moreno denied rumours that Argentina had requested Chile to join a blockade of the Falklands Islands and also reassured that the government of President Cristina Fernandez has not questioned the commercial air link between Santiago and the Islands.