Foreign Minister Timerman can go to bed tonight and dream of owning the Falklands in twenty years if he wishes, but there’s not much reality to it, pointed out a Falklands’ lawmaker reacting to the Argentine minister’s statements on Tuesday to the UK media.
Ushuaia tourism operators expressed concern and called for common sense to prevail after two major cruises finally decided this week not to call at in Argentine Tierra del Fuego after local authorities could not guarantee that the visiting vessels would not be exposed to the same intimidation tactics and delays experienced recently in Buenos Aires and earlier this year in the extreme south terminal because they include the Falkland Islands in their itineraries.
The Argentine Government’s acts of intimidation towards cruise companies which have planned to visit the Falkland Islands continues to impact on the Islands tourism industry with a further two ships cancelling their February visits on Wednesday.
UK government plans to merge the British Antarctic Survey with the National Oceanography Centre have triggered global debate among scientists and politicians with former US Vice-president Al Gore wading into the discussion and fears in the Falkland Islands of a diminished “British presence” in the region.
A Falkland Islands lawmaker was scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Tanzania top officials to explain the Islands support for post-colonial status and the coming referendum next year to determine its political future, faced with the insistent sovereignty claims from Argentina.
Members of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Gavin Short and Sharon Halford are currently attending the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Plenary and Small Countries Conference in Sri Lanka.
Argentine Defence minister Arturo Puricelli strongly criticized the announced referendum the Falkland Islands government is scheduled to hold next March which he described as a ‘parody’ and “entirely lacking imagination and creativity”.
Two young Falkland Islanders, Stacy Bragger and Krysteen Ormond, have been nominated by the Legislative Assembly to represent the Falkland Islands at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Parliament (CYP) in London between 4th-8th December 2012. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has accepted both candidates.
Cable and Wireless South Atlantic Ltd made a generous donation of £10,000 to the Falkland Islands Overseas Games Association (FIOGA).
By John J. Metzler (*) At the time of the 1982 invasion, Argentina was run by a military junta who unwisely played the nationalism card and seized the islands 300 miles off the coast of South America.