New arms threat: Argentina's £3billion boost to military

British military chiefs were last night “carefully monitoring” developments after Argentina announced a £3billion revamp of its armed forces.

 

Buenos Aires will acquire military hardware including fighter aircraft, ­anti-aircraft weapons and specialised radar, as well as beefing up its special forces.

 

The news comes months before drilling for oil ­begins in earnest off the Falkland Islands, provoking ­Argentina’s struggling President Cristina ­Fernandez de ­Kirchner.

 

Last month she created a new cabinet post of Secretary for the Malvinas, her country’s name for the Falklands.

 

Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has refused to confirm that Britain would retake the Falklands if they were overrun by enemy forces.

 

The extra cash means Argentina will ­increase defence spending by 33.4 per cent this year, the biggest rise in its history. It will include £750million for 32 ­procurement and modernisation programmes.

 

They will include medium tanks and transport aircraft and the refurbishment of warships and submarines. The shopping list also ­includes Israeli air ­defence systems, naval assault craft, rocket systems, helicopters and a drone project.

 

There will be a range of hi-tech capabilities for the army and the formation of new commando and special ­forces units.

 

In August last year the Sunday Express revealed details of a contract to buy 20 French Mirage fighter jets from Spain, giving Argentina the ability to attack Port Stanley airfield with laser guided bombs.

 

Sources from British oil and gas firm Rockhopper Exploration confirmed serious drilling could begin in a few months. Its Sea Lion field is thought to have 394 million barrels of oil.

 

“We’re just waiting for a rig, which isn’t easy to organise in the South Atlantic, ­before we can escalate to the next stage,” said the source. President de Kirchner’s new Malvinas Secretary Daniel Filmus sent over 200 letters to oil firms threatening fines of up to $1.5billion and 15-year-jail terms if they drilled without consent.

 

Though the threats have no validity in international law, it is seen as an example of the lengths the president will go to in order to bolster domestic political ­support.

Britain has strengthened its defences of the islands, with four RAF Eurofighter Typhoons and 600 troops. A Royal Navy nuclear submarine armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles visits twice a year.

 

Senior military sources told the Sunday Express they were “carefully monitoring” the situation. The real fear, however, is a raid by Argentinian special forces aimed at damaging Port Stanley’s runway.

Admiral Lord West, who was at the helm of HMS Ardent when she was sunk in the Falklands War, said: “Any major increase in defence expenditure by Argentina must be viewed with concern. I am concerned that, without any ­aircraft carriers, we are incapable of ­recapturing them.”

He said Britain’s new carriers will not be operational until 2020 and until then Argentina had a window of opportunity.

Give Us Your Real Dollars for Our Fake Dollars: Argentina Credit

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s wish of being able to print dollars is coming true as the central bank begins issuing dollar-denominated certificates today that trade in pesos.

Argentina is issuing the certificates, known as Cedines, as part of a tax amnesty plan to attract undeclared cash back into the economy. The nation’s foreign reserves have fallen at the fastest pace in more than a decade to a six-year low of $37.2 billion, as Argentina uses the money to pay debt instead of borrowing dollars at interest rates that are more than double the 5.95 percent average in emerging markets.

Fernandez, who said last year that it was unfortunate she didn’t have a “little machine” to print dollars, is trying to tap some of the estimated $160 billion held by Argentines under mattresses or in bank accounts abroad, to ease dollar demand stoked by more than 30 measures that she has imposed since 2011 to restrict access to foreign currency. While the measure is designed to provide individuals dollar-backed claims that can be used for real estate and energy projects, Empiria Consultores says Argentines will just exchange them back for U.S. currency.

“The deliberate intention of the government is for the Cedin to trade like a quasi-currency,” Hernan Lacunza, a former general manager of the central bank who runs research firm Empiria, said by telephone from Buenos Aires. “People will probably go running to exchange them for dollars as soon as they can so the effect on reserves will be ephemeral.”

Dollar Hoarding

 A central bank press official, who isn’t authorized to speak publicly, didn’t respond to a telephone message seeking comment on reserve levels and the tax amnesty plan.

The Cedin “is an ideal medium for the payment of U.S. dollar obligations,” and can be used for buying products from house appliances to construction materials, according to the law approved by congress May 29,

Argentines with undeclared foreign-currency savings have until Sept. 30 to trade their dollars for a certificate of deposit for investment, or Cedin, which will be traded in financial entities and foreign exchange agencies.

The government estimates citizens have undeclared funds of more than three times the nation’s foreign currency holdings. Argentines hold about one in every 15 dollars in circulation worldwide, according to Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury and Secret Service estimates.

‘Little Machine’ 

Argentines with undeclared funds leave themselves open to investigation by the tax authorities and an offense is punishable by jail time. The plan will attract about $2 billion, newspaper Clarin reported June 28, citing a report by Banco de la Nacion Argentina state bank.

Fernandez, 60, is trying to shield reserves at a time when the nation’s energy imports are surging and its trade surplus narrows.

“Unfortunately for me and for most Argentines, I don’t have a little machine that makes dollars,” she said in a November speech in Buenos Aires.

The central bank’s foreign currency holdings have fallen by $6.1 billion this year and will decline by $4 billion more as the nation pays its bondholders. Central Bank President Mercedes Marco Del Pont said on May 9 that the net effect of the tax amnesty plan on reserves will be neutral.

‘Opportunistic Strategy’ 

The government will have to guarantee that individuals can exchange the Cedines for dollars to attract funds, which would keep the value of the peso from falling further in the black market, according to Hernan Yellati, head strategist at BancTrust & Co. in Miami. Money invested in real estate and energy can also help bolster economic growth ahead of congressional elections in October, he said.

“This is an opportunistic strategy to lower the parallel rate, control inflation and at the same time give a boost to economic activity before the election,” Yellati, who expects about $1.5 billion will enter through the tax amnesty plan, said in an e-mail.

The reference value for every $100 of Cedines, is 90 for purchase and 93 for sale, for an implied exchange rate of 7.2 pesos per dollar, according to a recently created website called Cedin Trading.

That rate would be weaker than the official rate of 5.3903 and stronger than the black market where Argentines pay as much as 8 per dollar. A fourth rate used for financial transactions by swapping bonds and stocks was 7.8257 at 4:26 p.m. in Buenos Aires.

The extra yield investors demand to hold Argentine government dollar bonds instead of U.S. Treasuries fell 19 basis points, or 0.19 percentage point, to 1,180 basis points, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global index.

Property Sales 

Fernandez is seeking to reverse a rout in property transactions after her ban on buying foreign currency almost paralyzed the dollar-based market.

Undeclared dollars can also be traded for a government-issued bond maturing in 2016 that will pay a 4 percent annual interest rate that will be used to finance the energy industry and state-run YPF SA.

The tax amnesty plan will probably fail as it isn’t addressing inflation, which is the cause behind the decline in reserves, said Daniel Volberg, an economist at Morgan Stanley.

Consumer prices rose an estimated 23.4 percent in May from a year earlier, according to private economists.

“The real driving force for why we have reserve losses, why you have poor confidence, and why you have poor growth in Argentina is inflation,” he said in a telephone interview from New York. “We have plenty of experience with exchange rates that are misaligned and that are being propped up by a combination of intervention and capital controls, neither of those measures work.

Cristina Fernandez regrets Uruguay is not part of Argentina and praises Uruguayan liberator

President Cristina Fernandez deeply regretted that history did not allow Uruguay to be part of Argentina and blamed ‘so many other events that divided and separated’ the two neighbouring countries preventing them from being ‘a great, great nation’.

The president speaking in the province of Entre Rios praised the memory of Uruguayan liberator Jose Artigas, who set the foundations for an independent Uruguay, but also first tried to convert the United Provinces inherited from the Spanish empire into a federal state following on the US example. But he was defeated in his attempts by conspiration from the city of Buenos Aires.

“This flag of Entre Rios with its red sash across is the symbol of Artigas, who remains alive in the spirit of Entre Rios, that great Artigas who wanted to become Argentine and we didn’t let him, damn it, How was that possible? Sorry for the coarse expression”, said Cristina Fernandez during a political rally launching the campaign for the August primaries leading to the October mid term election that will seal the last two years of her second mandate.

“I get mad when reading history, when you read and find out that Buenos Aires at the time rejected the delegates sent from the Oriental Band (later Uruguay) and that is why today we are not an only great, great nation, as so many other events that happened and divided and separated us. From history we understand that we must make the reverse path, both inside and outside” added the Argentine president calling on the crowd to support her ‘country project’ led by the ‘people’s baton’.

“If we had followed Artigas legacy we wouldn’t be two nations”, emphasized Cristina Fernandez, who then referring to Argentina called for ‘national unity which does not mean agreeing in all and every issue, but agreeing in those that are essential for the development of the nation”.

There were no immediate reactions from Uruguay to the history statements, but it must be said that Artigas Federal League which included several Argentine provinces was finally defeated when a fearful Buenos Aires conspired with Portugal and later with Brazil to have him and his federal republican ideas ousted. Artigas died in exile in Paraguay but his lieutenants with the guarantee of Britain, managed ten years later an independent Uruguay, protected from the territorial ambitions of its powerful neighbours.

Horacio Brusquera, a Uruguayan historian said that Cristina Fernandez was partly right: although Artigas never wanted to become an Argentine (Argentina as such did not exist then) but rather a federal state, and “yes together it would have been a great nation with Uruguay the head and brains and Argentina the rest”, as history has repeatedly witnessed.

After a rough year Cristina Fernandez names new top heads of the Armed Forces

In a surprise move Argentine President Cristina Fernández replaced the top heads of the armed forces and appointed Brigadier General Luis María Carena as the new head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The changes announced on Wednesday come just a few weeks after former lawmaker Augstín Rossi was named new Defence minister.

Carena replaces Jorge Alberto Chevalier, and Division General César Milani will assume as Army Chief of Staff instead of Lieutenant General Luis Alberto Pozzi.

Rear Admiral Gastón Fernando Erice will replace Admiral Daniel Alberto Enrique Martín as the new navy’s Chief of Staff while Mayor Brigadier Mario Miguel Callejo takes command of the Air Force.

The changes don’t come as a surprise because the president had them in mind before removing Arturo Puricelli and sending him to Internal Security. Besides it was a tough twelve months with the injunction of the ARA Libertad in Ghana; the poor performance of the Navy and the total failure of this year’s Antarctic campaign, among other issues.

President Cristina Fernandez and the new Minister of Defence Rossi thanked the leaving generals in an official document, where they expressed their gratitude “to those who accomplished in this time such important responsibilities, putting all their energy, their intelligence and capability to the service of the Homeland”.

The document included a special mention for Brigadier General Chevalier “who accompanied us during the last decade, and was part of the first changes impulsed by Néstor Kirchner when he just took office”.

However, this sudden change might be connected not only to Rossi’s new position but with Nilda Garré, former Security minister, who left office a month ago.

Earlier today, the Kirchnerite officials tried to approve without success, Congress authorization for Garre’s designation as the new ambassador in the Organization of Americans States (OAS). 

Opposition Senators managed to block a vote demanding some aspects of her assets statements were ‘not clear’.

Cristina Fernandez will veto constitutional reform even from her militant lawmakers

Argentine President Cristina Fernández is not turning back on her word and even if Kirchnerite lawmakers propose and agree on a constitutional reform, she would certainly veto it, said Senator Aníbal Fernández.

The comment from the president’s ‘trouble-shooter’ Senator follows recent statements from Cristina Fernandez pledging she will not push for such a project that would allow her to seek re-re-election in 2015 as many of her most militant followers would like to see.

“Suppose we all go crazy and we manage to clear (the bill to reform the constitution); the President will veto such a thing,” Senator Fernández stressed as he told reporters at a local radio station that “there is no turning back for the President’s word.”

“To make a real and profound judicial reform the National Constitution should be reformed. But I will not propose any constitutional reform. That is why I submitted six projects to Congress”, the head of state said at the La Matanza State University on Tuesday referring to the six-bill package to “democratize” Argentina's judiciary system.

Political analysts and members of the opposition fear that Cristina Fernandez could be planning a second consecutive re-election in 2015 and for which she would need to amend the constitution which only contemplates two four year periods.

For the plan to go ahead Cristina Fernandez would have to negotiate with the Argentine congress a special majority in both houses, hard to visualize currently or even after the coming October mid-term elections when half the Lower House and a third of Senators is to be renewed.

Argentina Propaganda - Falkland Islands: “British sovereignty over the Islands as such, is not accepted by the European Parliament”

“British sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands as such is not accepted by the European Parliament”, according to a visiting delegation of EU lawmakers who met with their Argentine peers in Buenos Aires.

The Falklands issue was brought up by Senator Daniel Filmus, head of the Foreign Affairs committee in the framework of a meeting with a delegation from the EU Commission for relations with Mercosur countries, headed by MEP Luis Yañez Barnuevo from Spain.

Senator Filmus as part of the talks on the stalled Mercosur/EU cooperation and trade agreement suggested to his peers that an additional effort to help Argentina establish a bilateral dialogue with the UK on the Malvinas issue would be very positive for the whole range of issues.

“To advance in the strengthening of the accords it would be beneficial if the EU would commit itself to help so that the UK sits at a table to dialogue bilaterally on the Malvinas question” said Filmus.

He added that the diplomatic path “is the only path we conceive and we stress this position in support of dialogue in all the international forums we participate”.

Senator Filmus claimed that the UK is taking advantage of the dispute to ‘militarize’ the South Atlantic and to extract natural resources that belong to the region.

“There is a growing consensus related to this issue and it’s that both sides must sit to discuss it. Militarization and extracting natural resources has implications not only for territorial sovereignty and integration but also economic for our region”, underlined Senator Filmus.

It was then that MEP Yañez Barnuevo and head of the EU delegation ratified that for the European Parliament “British sovereignty over the (Malvinas) Islands as such, is not accepted”.

However the MEP and his colleagues, Jean Pierre Audy, Josefa Andres Barea y Mario Pirillo asked about the seizure last year of YPF from Spain’s Repsol.

Senator Sonia Escudero said that the reasons to advance over 51% of YPF shares “was directly related to the fact that production and reserves of oil and gas under the Spanish administration had collapsed over 40%, while 100% profits were distributed and debts had also ballooned”.

“This caused serious energy provision difficulties for Argentina, and thus the decision”, added Senator Escudero.

Finally the Argentine lawmakers called for a recovery of the favourable climate that has always signalled relations with the EU, although expressing some apprehensions.

“We observe certain aggressiveness from the EU and some of its member states against Argentina, following the decision to nationalize YPF, which is contrary to the historical links and friendship between the two regions”, admitted Senator Escudero.

Lanata claims 80% of media in under Argentina government control for propaganda purposes

 Argentine journalist Jorge Lanata who has won Spain’s Television Iris Award, claims that ‘80% of Argentine media is in the hands of government (President Cristina Fernandez)” which are used as “instruments of propaganda”.

Lanata was given the award for his “standing exposure of the corrupt political class and his defence of the weakest”, according to the statement that supported the Spanish television academy most respectable prize.

“We’re going through a delicate moment and in a state of division that is promoted from the very centres of power”, argued Lanata interviewed by Spain’s government news agency.

His program “Journalism for all” aired by Channel 13 is currently in the heart of a major political controversy in Argentina following his exposure, with documents and witnesses of a web of companies belonging to former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner which had a close friend of his as the front man and who became the only public works contractor of the province of Santa Cruz, the Kirchner’s political turf.

Once his mentor became president and moved to Buenos Aires the former obscure bank teller Lazaro Baez became one of the richest men in the province with assets estimated in tens of millions of dollars and his companies absorbing most of public works now in the whole of Patagonia.

The organization of Kirchner and Baez allegedly has also been involved in money laundering from the skimmed public works through Uruguay to Panama, Belize, Caribbean islands and finally Switzerland.

Lanata regretted that the Argentine courts have yet to decide an investigation despite all the information and documents supplied. “I don’t think it is because the system is corrupt but rather that the Executive keeps advancing on the judicial branch”, said Lanata.

“Our job is not evangelization or teaching, it is just telling what we know and that we can prove and communicate it in the most creative form possible”, pointed out the Argentine journalist who added that “we must be as independent as possible. What gives me independence is public opinion: as long as they watch us that is what gives us power”.

Reference internet Lanata described it as the greatest invention since printing and “a great opportunity” for journalism. “Sure we are going through a crisis, but a good crisis. Internet is just starting and offers a great opportunity to experiment new things”.

Finally the Argentine communicator said that the world is changing and the role of emerging countries and their media will keep growing including in this area. “We are still submitted mostly to a North-South communication system, but in a near future we’ll be facing new paradigms and new ways of communicating”-

Lanata describes himself as la liberal with left wing inclinations. Liberal because he believes in democracy and left wing because of the injustices “I see and come across everyday”

CFK's Gestapo - Argentine Government Sponsered Thugs - Malvinas radical group begins campaign against Lan Chile offices in Buenos Aires

Tony Lopez from Resistencia Malvinas, who described the campaign against the cruise vessels calling in the Falklands a ‘success’, pledged that every Wednesday at midday the group will be protesting at Lan Chile’s downtown offices demanding that Aerolineas Argentinas takes over the weekly flight to the Islands and that passports be eliminated for Argentine nationals.

This week’s ‘Wednesday protest’ inauguration was not much of a success because Argentine public opinion was concentrated on the judicial reform congressional debate and massive concentrations all over the country rejecting the proposal.

However next week could be different because the protest at Lan’s offices will be taking place on Thursday at midday (Wednesday May first is a national holiday), which coincides with the 31st anniversary of the sinking of the cruiser “General Belgrano” by a British submarine with the loss of 323 lives, Argentina’s single major setback, and which marked the no-return escalation of the Falklands conflict.

In an interview with a local radio, Tony Lopez said that the idea of the Lan ‘siege’ followed the success of the campaign against cruise vessels calling in the Falklands, implementing the Gaucho Rivero Bill, which “was confirmed by the tourism stats released by the Malvinas illegitimate government”.

According to those stats “the cruise season was down 50% over a year ago, because cancellation doubled and the number of visitors was much lower than expected. This was to the benefit of Puerto Madryn and Ushuaia”, argued Tony Lopez.

In this new campaign “we are demanding that Aerolineas Argentinas takes over the weekly flight to Malvinas and from Argentina and that Argentine nationals should not need passports to travel to the Islands, as is the case now”.

The head of Resistencia Malvinas insisted on describing the cruise campaign as a ‘success’ recalling two incidents: when his group attack with stones and sticks against representatives’ offices from British maritime agencies in Argentina, which included the burning of a Union Jack, and when cruise passengers in Buenos Aires were retained by over six hours delaying the departure of the vessel to Montevideo.

Tony Lopez went further and said that following these two incidents and the summoning of Ambassador Alicia Castro in London by the Foreign Office to receive a formal protest, “we became aware we had the full support from the Argentine state”.

In effect, “when summoned to the Foreign Office Ambassador Alicia Castro told (Foreign Secretary William) Hague that the only possible way out to this situation was to begin negotiations over the Malvinas sovereignty”.

“The stones we throw and break windows of the representatives of the Malvinas usurpers in Buenos Aires have a big echo in London”, said Tony Lopez.

Finally regarding passports, he recalled that people travelling between Malvinas and Argentina, based on the understanding of 1971/72 only needed a ‘white card’, because it is not a foreign country, and this is contemplated in international law. This was the case until the 1982 war.

Likewise the validity of such understandings is not erased because of a war and remembered that when President Cristina Fernandez was a Senator she supported a bill which established that the only document valid to travel to Malvinas was the “white card”.

“Let’s hope she recalls that, and follows on her husband’s steps who disavowed the Malvinas fisheries and hydrocarbons understandings with the UK government; she must do the same with the 1999 agreement on communications and have Aerolineas Argentinas take over from Lan Chile”.
 

‘The Argentine joke’ and Cristina Fernandez as Pinocchio, headlines of Brazil’s influential magazine Veja

One of Brazil’s most influential magazines and with the largest circulation, Veja, included a controversial piece which questions Argentina’s economic and social statistics than come under the responsibility of the non less famous Indec.

Under the heading of “The Argentine Joke”, the article is not kind with Argentine culture and is illustrated with President Cristina Fernandez as Pinocchio, the long nosed child fiction marionette whose nose keeps growing for not saying the truth.

“Cristina Kirchner with her economic stats does the same as her militants with history facts, a coarse manipulation of reality” says Veja adding crudely that “falsifying history is in fact one of the characteristics of the (Argentine) national culture”, says Veja.

“To hide the wreck of her mishandling of the economy, Cristina Kirchner uses the fable of the present as intensely as she does with the past. Official economic stats have become a joke. The official annual inflation rate is 10%, the true real value is 24% with the projection of reaching 30% towards the end of the year”, points out the article.

Likewise Veja argues that as “with authoritarian governments it does not need to prove coherence”, and the country was forced to appeal to the freezing of prices to tame the increases but overall the rise in the value of goods and services runs quicker than that of salaries.

With a strong degree of caustic irony Veja says that “it is going to be fun to follow this tragic-comedy from the balcony, because for the Argentines it will inevitably become a tragedy”.

Veja’s circulation is approximately a million copies and is weekly reading for the political establishment and business community.

Looting extends in Argentina: two people shot dead, dozens injured in clashes with police

A rash of looting and ransacking of supermarkets in Argentine major cities and several provinces left two people killed, dozens injured and hundreds arrested. The looting and vandalizing of supermarkets began in the Patagonian resort of Bariloche on Thursday and seemingly triggered a knock-on effect across different provinces, as similar incidents began to arise in Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Chaco provinces.

Women and teenagers looting the food stalls  

Looters loaded with electronic appliances flee from the supermarket  

Police with water cannons and tear gas clash with vandals

In Rosario one of the victims of the clashes between looters and police, identified as Carina Paz, 36, was shot in the head whilst entering a supermarket. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Rosario police also said that a man was killed after being shot in the chest in Villa Gobernador Gálvez, a town located on the southern fringe of Rosario City.

Argentina’s second largest city media reported that at least 25 attacks on supermarkets, furniture stores and small shops were being carried out in the Rosario area.

Various local government officials spoke with reporters over the action being taken in order to control the chaos caused in the different towns and cities.

In Campana, the town’s cabinet chief Claudio Rodríguez, assured that over one hundred people had been arrested. “We haven’t ruled out a possible political connection,” to the crimes, the official added.

Even in the high income neighbourhood of San Fernando famous for its marinas on the Parana River 20 miles north of Buenos Aires police forces had to fight back looters.

Meanwhile four hundred Border Guard officers, deployed by the federal government to Bariloche on Friday to enforce police control after Thursday's violent supermarket looting incidents, which saw more than 33 people injured. Yesterday five large supermarkets were ransacked, leading to violent clashes between police and looters.

According to official reports during night clashes as police tried to restore order, thirty-three people were reported to have been injured including 18 police officers and 15 teenagers.

From El Calafate in Santa Cruz province, President Cristina Fernandez agenda to spend a quiet peaceful family Christmas reunion has been altered. Since arriving on Thursday evening she has been in contact with the cabinet and governors to try and contain the situation from further spreading, and looking for culprits.

At first it was suspected that frictions and disputes inside the ruling Victory Front in the province of Rio Negro to which Bariloche belongs could be behind the uprising or even police discontent following the elimination of special riot units in the province.

However this was quickly discarded after the rival factions closed ranks and the at times overwhelmed Rio Negro police force was relieved to receive support from the gendarmerie.

Now the government guns are pointing to the dissident organized labour led by Hugo Moyano and his allies but this still has to be proved and obviously was rejected point blank by these organizations.
 

Rioting and looting because the President is out of touch with the people, says Moyano

Argentine dissident organized labour leader Hugo Moyano claimed on Friday that President Cristina Fernandez is out of touch with the people and “the lackeys she has are scared of her and can only say stupid things”. Moyano’s strong words followed accusations by the government that he was behind the extended rioting and looting that hit several Argentine cities on Thursday and Friday.

Abal Medina from Government House blamed dissident unions

Moyano said the lackeys that surround the president can only say stupid and idiotic things  

Berni insists that the lootings were clearly organized and had political intentions

“I think the president is out of touch. She sends these blokes to say a lot of stupid and idiotic things. The government can’t pretend to be serious with these lackeys”, underlined Moyano without naming any official but in direct reference to cabinet chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina and Security Secretary Sergio Berni whom he described as a “devalued Rambo”.   

The teamsters boss said that the government’s officials were a pack of ‘bigmouths’ that can only repeat stupidities and this is because “the government has no answers, no replies so it then tries to play the role of the victim and accuses the workers”
. 
“These officials are acting as in the time of military dictatorships. They accuse whoever they please and invite people to come and bash us. They are provoking people into violence, when in reality teamsters are victims because many of our lads had their cargoes stolen and were also beaten”, insisted Moyano.

The teamsters’ leader pledged that “these gentlemen will have to repeat what they are saying before court. They are constantly accusing and disqualifying the workers and the official media are scaring the people to make them think that we who represent workers are responsible for what is going on”.

“The Government created the conditions for the lootings, not workers” underlined Moyano.

Earlier on Friday Cabinet Chief Abal Medina said that the supermarket lootings and widespread violence in several cities across Argentina were linked to anti-government union leaders Hugo Moyano, Pablo Micheli and Luis Barrionuevo.

“In Campana, there is someone linked to the Teamsters union” stressed the cabinet chief during a ceremony at the Government House. “Violent people do not rest and seek to keep on putting a spoke in the wheel,” he added.

Berni in Bariloche, (where the looting started on Thursday) with 400 Border Guards patrolling the Patagonian resort said that the looting was ‘organized’ and ‘respond to political issues’, and then linked them directly to the dissident unions and their leaders such as Moyano and Pablo Micheli.

“They are isolated incidents clearly organized which attempt to distort social peace, and spoil the great moment Argentina is living” said Abal Medina who added “nobody was after food: they were after plasma TVs, LCD, electrical appliances and drinks”.

Asked to be specific about those responsible for organizing the incidents that spread to several provinces and major cities such as Rosario and metropolitan Buenos Aires, Abal Medina said that “the government of Neuquen pointed out to dissident groups from unions and other governors told us they had seen sectors linked to teamsters and the gastronomic union in the incidents”.

“We’re talking of people who clearly have political intentions”, affirmed Abal Medina.
 

UK Government will not allow Falkland Islanders’ human rights to be ignored

British Prime Minister David Cameron delivers his Christmas message to the people of the Falkland Islands:

2012 has been a memorable year for all of us. It’s been a year of happy celebrations but a year of more sober commemorations too. In London and Stanley, we celebrated the Diamond Jubilee, marking the 60th year of Her Majesty the Queen’s reign. The genuine and deep affection for Her Majesty both here and in the Falklands reminded us of the ties that bind us together.

PM Cameron said the coming Falklands referendum is true democracy in action and an opportunity to send a message to the world  

It was an extraordinary summer in another respect too. The 2012 Olympics exceeded all our expectations. This was without doubt the greatest show on earth.

The world saw what the best of British talent, guts and ingenuity could produce. I was truly, truly proud of our country and I hope it looked as impressive 8,000 miles away as it did from here.

But June was also a time for some sombre reflection. It was a time to remember the conflict 30 years ago when your home was invaded by the Argentinean Junta and for remembering the 255 British servicemen and three Islanders who lost their lives. I know you, like me, will never forget the sacrifices they made. It would be appropriate too to remember those Argentines, mostly young men, pressed into service by their government, who also lost their lives.

Last month we sadly lost Sir Rex Hunt who played such a pivotal role during the invasion and following the Island’s liberation.

Sir Rex was the very best of British: a brave man and a dedicated public servant. He was also a close friend and passionate advocate of the Falkland Islands people. I know he will be much missed by all who knew him.

In June I had the privilege of speaking at the Falkland Islands Government’s Liberation Day reception. I was able to hear firsthand the stories of those directly involved in the conflict and to understand more about its lasting legacy. But, we didn’t just look back, we looked forward too and it’s testament to your efforts that the Falklands have prospered so well since those dark days of April 1982.

The progress you’ve made in shaping a positive future for the next generation of Falkland Islanders has been truly remarkable.

Now this year the Government officially renewed its partnership with the Overseas Territories, restating our commitment to help promote the territories social and economic development at a time of dramatic global challenges.

We want all the peoples of the Overseas Territories to be able to determine their own destiny and realise their aspirations.

But, I’m always conscious that you, the people of the Falkland Islands, continue to face a particular and direct challenge both to your economy and to your identity as Falkland Islanders.

President Kirchner’s Government appears determined to argue that you should have no say in how you are governed. They continue to misrepresent the history of your Islands and the current realities of life there. I’m pleased to see the Falkland Islanders working hard to correct these misrepresentations.

Indeed, it was particularly good to see a delegation of young Islanders travel to the United Nations in June to challenge President Kirchner directly. They were a great credit to you all.

It is a pity that Argentina persists in behaving this way. The UK would like to have a more positive relationship with the Government of Argentina. We are stepping up our engagement with Latin America more generally, and there are so many global issues we could work on together.

But, the British Government will not stand by and allow your human rights to be ignored. There is no justification for any country to try and deny you the right to democracy and self-determination. Nor to make attempts to isolate you, block your trade and undermine your legitimate fisheries, hydrocarbons and tourism industries.

Next year the Falkland Islands Government will hold a referendum on the political status of the Islands. I value deeply the UK’s relationship with the Falklands and hope it will long continue.

But it is not my decision, nor is it Argentina’s, it is yours and yours alone.

This referendum is true democracy in action, an opportunity to show the international community what you want for your future and to show it definitively. I hope all of you seize it.

In the meantime, Samantha and I would like to wish everyone on the Islands a very, very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year. (Penguin News)

ARA Libertad is in the high seas; great reception in Mar del Plata on 9 January

The Argentine Navy flagship ARA Libertad set sail for Mar del Plata on Wednesday four days after a UN court ordered its release from the Tema port in Accra, Ghana, following a 77 day embargo (since 2 October) due to a claim by vulture fund NML Capital.

The tall ship with all its sails displayed and a huge Argentine flag left Ghana on Wednesday  

Sailors boarding ARA Libertad, frigate is expected to arrive in Mar del Plata on January 9th.  

A group of 98 Argentine sailors arrived earlier in the day in Ghana to complete the crew of 44 who remained under the orders of the captain and will oversee the training frigate’s return. In the midst of the conflict 281 sailors returned to Buenos Aires.

A spokesman of the Ghanaian port authority confirmed that the ARA Libertad was refuelled prior to its voyage. The navy vessel is expected to arrive in Mar del Plata on January 9th, President Cristina Fernández announced on Tuesday. A great reception is planned for the arrival.

On Saturday, the International Court of the Law of the Sea ordered Ghana to release Libertad, which was seized by orders of a court that accepted the claims of hedge fund NML Capital.

The twenty Justices from the Court of the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, including a former Ghana Judge, voted unanimously that war ships are immune to impounds based on the Law of the Sea and the Vienna convention.

A Ghanaian delegation including military personnel was at the port to see the frigate off. Tema Port Authority Lawrence Atumbine said that earlier on Wednesday the country’s Supreme Court had signed a resolution which invalidated the commercial court that supported the injunction.

“Now the frigate Libertad has become the symbol of sovereignty and national dignity against those who want to bully or run over Argentina”, said President Cristina Fernandez.

NML and other investment funds did not accept the restructuring of Argentine defaulted bonds in 2005 or 2010 and are demanding full payment of capital and interest. These funds or ‘vulture funds’ as Argentines call them are part of the 7% that did not accept Argentine restructuring terms, while 93% did accept the new bonds.

In the case of ARA Libertad the funds were demanding payment equivalent to 370 million dollars, capital plus interests.

“Madame President: pleas eaddress inflation and rampant crime” demands Argentine organized labour

Argentine dissident organized labour concentrated at the emblematic Plaza de Mayo and claimed the government of Cristina Fernandez was applying IMF recipes by halting wage hikes for workers and called on the Lady to address inflation and rampant crime.

 “This is no other than what the International Monetary Fund instructed Argentina at the time. This is an undercover austerity measure. When the IMF outlines the policies of those countries that subordinate themselves, the first thing it does is freeze salaries. And the Government has frozen and even reduced salaries” said organized labour CGT leader Hugo Moyano at the Wednesday rally next to Pablo Micheli from another once rival labour organization.

The two leaders, Moyano and Micheli walked down the centre of Buenos Aires followed by numerous columns of followers with flags and banners, and converged from different directions on to Plaza de Mayo. Small farmers associations adhered to the rally as so did some opposition political parties among which the most outstanding the Radicales.

An estimated 100.000 people marched and finally converged on Plaza de Mayo.

Regarding the 2013 midterm elections, Moyano said that ”we will have this fundamental tool of democracy, and us workers will vote for those who guarantee our rights. We can’t be wrong again! Don’t come to us with fantasies of an unfinished revolution”.

In 2011 President Cristina Fernandez was re-elected with a record 54% support and thirty points ahead of the runner-up.

Moyano then called on President Cristina Fernández to address inflation and crime rates. “Madame President, please address inflation and security which are the main concern of all Argentines”.

The demands by the high-profile labour union groups included wages, family pay packets, inflation, income tax rates and the owed state debt to the unions’ health insurance companies.

Miceli underlined the union of organized labour: “we started with a concrete action plan along different paths but now we are showing that things can be done together”.

“This rally is not against any government but in self defence and they are not going to have us out of the streets until dialogue is established”, added Miceli who insisted in claiming better salaries and a more fair taxing system.

The two labour leaders also called for an independent Justice. “We have a most respectful Supreme Court and this government wants to tread on it. The Court must annul the terrorist bill which is a threat for civil liberties and for unions’ rights”, said Miceli.

Likewise Moyano demanded that the government respects the court cases favouring old pensioners, who “have been denied justice by the government and like to dress up as the defenders of human rights, what an irony!”
 

Argentina - Temporary relief for Clarin Group; case delayed for another two months

Argentine media group Clarin SA was granted temporary relief on Tuesday from the government's effort to implement a media law that would force the conglomerate to sell some of its most profitable assets. 

 

Earlier Tuesday, it was announced that Federal Judge Horacio Alfonso accepted Clarin's request to appeal a ruling he made Friday that required the company to immediately comply with the law.

In his ruling, Judge Alfonso had also ordered an immediate end to an injunction protecting Clarin from the law's enforcement until courts have decided whether the law is constitutional. But by granting Clarin's appeal and sending the case to an appeals court, Judge Alfonso effectively suspended his own ruling, once again shielding Clarin from the law.

The development comes a day after Martin Sabbatella, head of a government media regulatory agency, notified Clarin that the government had begun the process of auctioning off some of Clarin's assets such as its cable-TV unit. Mr. Sabbatella said the process would last around 100 business days.

Legal experts say the appellate ruling may not come until February or March. Even then, the case will likely be appealed again by the losing side to the Supreme Court.

Only after the Supreme Court has ruled on the law's constitutionality will it be clear if and when Clarin has to comply with the law.

The dispute is part of an escalating battle between Clarin and Argentine President Cristina Fernandez who is trying to enforce a controversial three-year-old media law.

Cristina Fernandez says the law aims to create more competition in the media marketplace. In contrast, Clarin and many analysts say the government wants to muzzle the outspoken broadcaster and diminish the influence of critical press, which it claims wants to see her removed from office.

STATE TERRORISM CFK's Junta - Argentine government begins process to dismember Clarin media group

Argentina's government Monday began the process of auctioning off media licenses and related assets held by the media conglomerate Grupo Clarin SA. The move, which government officials say should take about 100 business days to complete, comes after a lower court judge ruled Friday that a three-year-old media law requiring Clarin to be dismantled is constitutional.

Early morning Cristina Fernandez administration official visited Clarin to inform them the process of auctioning licences had started

“We notified Clarin that the auction process has begun. The law is constitutional, and it is in full effect,” said Martin Sabbatella, who was appointed by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to enforce the law.

Earlier Monday, Clarin appealed the ruling to a federal appeals court. In a statement, Clarin accused the government of violating other court decisions by starting the auction process.

Clarin noted the same federal appeals court recently said the company would have one year to comply with the law even it were found constitutional. Clarin also said that because it appealed the ruling, the decision automatically would be suspended until it has been confirmed or rejected by a higher court.

Marcela Basterra, a constitutional law professor at the University of Buenos Aires, said the government's action Monday was primarily political.

“The government is doing this for political reasons because, legally speaking, it has to wait for a decision on this matter from the appeals court before it can act,” Mrs. Basterra said. “In reality, this case is going to end up in the Supreme Court, and only then will it be resolved.”

Mrs. Basterra said the lower court's ruling isn't binding because it has been appealed. She said the Supreme Court eventually will have to decide whether the law is constitutional and how much time Clarin has to comply with it.

“The majority of constitutional scholars think the one-year period will come into effect only if the law has been definitively declared constitutional by the Supreme Court,” she said.

Mr. Sabbatella disagrees and has said repeatedly that the one-year divestment period has expired already, meaning the government is right to enforce the law immediately.

Monday's developments are the latest in an intense and public battle between Clarin and President Cristina Fernandez, who accuses the company of being a coup-mongering monopoly that tries to topple her government.

Argentine frigate expected back in Buenos Aires early January

“Once more we fulfill our promise, the Frigate is coming back,” was the first statement given by President Cristina Fernández over the ruling of the UN's International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to release the ARA Libertad frigate. 

 Cristina Fernandez, ‘once more we comply’  

Cristina Fernandez chose Twitter to speak about the ruling that ordered the release of the impounded frigate from the Tema port in Ghana and anticipated that on Tuesday a crew travels to Ghana to bring back the Argentine navy flagship.

“Not so long ago I said that, as long as I'm the President, no vulture fund will stay with our country's sovereignty and dignity,” was the first tweet of CFK.

The Argentine president summarized the Court's decision to release the vessel and reminded that by December 22 it must have left the port.

Besides, she highlighted that the release includes the commander, the crew and the reconditioning of the vessel, and added that the country “must not offer a bail or guarantee.”

The President also detailed that the crew that currently are in Argentina will travel on Tuesday to Ghana “to bring our Libertad frigate back to our homeland.”

The vessel is expected to be back in Argentina by 9 January after a trip of 74 days, according to Defence minister Arturo Puricelli.
 

Cristina Fernandez: “no one is going to pressure me especially with bullying or thugs”

After the first national strike against her administration, Argentine President Cristina Fernández blasted the CGT and CTA-led protest claiming they appealed to “bullying” tactics and called on workers to defend the “economic development and inclusion model”.

 For the Argentine president “this was not a strike, it was an intimidation and a threat”  

“This wasn’t a strike no a picket but an intimidation and a threat” she assured and warned that no one is going to pressure her.

“No one is going to pressure me, especially with threats, bullying or thugs. These are not the leaders that Perón and Evita wanted,” she said in a rally honouring Sovereignty Day in Argentina.

Earlier in the day amidst the massive strike, President Cristina Fernández wondered on her Facebook account (Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner): “Does anyone want to go back to that Argentina with an economic model which was bread for just a few and hunger for everybody or almost everybody?”

The president continued on her message that though it was not aimed to anyone in particular; it appeared as a clear message to the umbrella unions holding the strike: “Because we all know that not all Argentines went through hunger in those days. Normally the first ones that feel the hunger are the working class after losing their jobs.”

“This is why I like to call all my fellow-workers to show some conscious and responsibility in order to defend not this government but this political project that has created more than 5.5 million job posts with the construction industry having a fundamental role.”

Meanwhile, in a statement to a local TV station, the Minister of Interior and Transportation, Florencio Randazzo, said that the strike organized by the union sector is an extortionist measure that is misplaced.

“However, it is not a strike in favour of the workers, as they want to pretend. It runs opposite to the interest of workers, because it affected thousands of people, who wanted to get to work,” Randazzo said, in direct reference to the over 200 roadblocks and pickets which virtually isolated the city of Buenos Aires.