Hooliganism and mobbing by government officials seem to be the norm in Argentina following on the experience of two incidents, one involving a BBC crew forced out of the country for their alleged 'disrespectful attitude' towards the Falklands/Malvinas conflict memory, and a second calling on hecklers to impede a conference in Buenos Aires of a former minister.
Most probably this cruise season 2012/2013 will be remembered not for the record number of calls or visitors (estimated in half a million) but as a new case of Argentine intolerance with the Malvinas Islands in centre stage, writes La Nacion columnist Emiliano Galli.
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.
Despite claims by the Argentine media that the Bahamas flagged cruise vessel “Seabourn Sojourn” had no plans to visit Falklands the 431 passengers on board have enjoyed a wide range of tours around the Islands after they anchored in Port William, just outside of Stanley Harbour on Friday at 9am.
The Bahamas flagged cruise vessel ‘Seabourn Sojourn’ that on Thursday berthed at Ushuaia reported to Argentine port authorities it has no plans to visit the Falklands/Malvinas Islands according to press reports from the capital of Argentine Tierra del Fuego.
As of next 6 November Chile’s port cities will display their best since on that date the official 2012/13 cruise season begins which extends until mid April and the country has great expectations of recovering a leading position in the region.