One hundred members of the Chilean population living in the Falkland Islands were joined by 50 to 60 Islanders in a show of unity against the possibility that the weekly Lan Chile flight between Santiago and the Falklands might be discontinued at the request of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez.
There was considerable anticipation and speculation in the Falkland Islands on Tuesday as residents and visitors alike waited to hear Argentine president Cristina Kirchner’s much-publicized evening announcement.
Lawmaker Ivan Moreira from the ruling coalition junior partner UDI said that Chile should not get involved in the Falklands/Malvinas issue which has to be addressed between Argentina and the UK, and recalled that Chile has its own problem with the coming International Court of Justice dispute with neighbouring Peru.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Argentine president Cristina Fernandez are expected to visit Chile in the near future as pressure mounts on the conservative government of President Sebastian Piñera because of the ongoing UK/Argentina diplomatic dispute over the Faklands/Malvinas issue.
“Chile’s support to Argentina’s claim over the Malvinas Islands is a state policy for our country” said Chilean Executive secretary Andres Chadwick, but it does not mean any impediment to that “very special relation we have with the UK”.
Britain warned Argentina against cutting off an air link to the Falklands as part of an economic blockade of the Islands, reports the Evening Standard. Buenos Aires is threatening to stop a weekly flight from Punta Arenas in Chile to Port Stanley by refusing permission for it to use Argentine airspace.
British diplomats have accused Argentina of plotting an economic blockade of the Falkland Islands amid fears Buenos Aires is attempting to block all flights from Chile to the Islands, reports the guardian.co.uk in a piece by Rory Carroll, Jonathan Franklin and Uki Goñi.
Argentine Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo, quickly hit back at the statements made by the British government, after Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Argentina “should stop their intimidation attempts” against the Falkland Islanders.
The Chilean Foreign Affairs ministry has been very busy doing a complete review of norms and of maritime traffic and international trade agreements in the event of what are considered growing pressures from Argentina to establish a sort of “regional blockade” against the Malvinas Islands, a UK Overseas Territory.
Lan Chile airlines admitted on Thursday before the Chilean Securities and Exchange Commission that the decision by the Argentina’s Civil Aviation authority, ANAC, to revoke Lan Argentina flight authorizations to Brazil, Paraguay and Chile from Buenos Aires metropolitan airport Jorge Newbery “would not have a relevant financial impact for Lan Airlines at consolidated level