Communist
24th February 2010, 03:06
Latin American Leaders Back Argentina Over Falkland Oil
Drilling (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/23/argentina-uk-falkland-row-oil)
Solidarity vote is a diplomatic bonus for Cristina
Kirchner but backing of Venezuela and Brazil unlikely to
end UK drilling
By Rory Carroll, Latin American correspondent
February 2010
Guardian (UK)
Latin America and Caribbean nations appeared to close ranks
behind -Argentina today in its dispute with Britain over oil
exploration in Falkland islands' waters.
A summit of 32 countries in Mexico endorsed an Argentine
document accusing Britain of flouting international law by
permitting drilling to begin this week, said Argentina's
president, Cristina Kirchner.
"We have achieved very strong support, something that
legitimates our claims fundamentally against the new
petroleum activity."
The Argentine statement quoted Mexico's president, Felipe
Calderón, saying: "The heads of state represented here
reaffirm their support for the legitimate rights of the
republic of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute with Great
Britain."
The Rio Group summit, meeting in Cancún, made no immediate
official statement but there was no doubting support for
Argentina from leftist allies. Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and
Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega demanded the UK hand back the
Falklands, which Argentinians call las Malvinas, to Buenos
Aires.
The longstanding sovereignty dispute flared earlier this
month over the arrival of a rig, the Ocean Guardian, which is
to drill offshore for oil and gas deposits which could turn
the windswept archipelago into an oil magnate.
Desire Petroleum, a small British company, started drilling
on Monday about 60 miles north of the islands. Geologists say
there could be up to 60bn barrels although sceptics doubt
that they are commercially viable.
The row has brought Anglo-Argentine relations to a new low
since the 1982 conflict but Kirchner ruled out any attempt to
blockade the islands.
Analysts said Buenos Aires scored a diplomatic victory in
mustering regional solidarity but that the practical effects
were negligible.
"Beyond making Kirchner, and some other Latin American
leaders, feel good and perhaps getting a bit of a political
bounce at home, the collective regional posture will mean
very little on the ground," said Michael Shifter of the
Inter-American Dialogue think- tank.
"Though the Argentine government will keep the issue alive
and make a lot of noise, further escalation of the dispute is
improbable, and Britain will continue drilling for oil."
The main purpose of the two-day summit, which finished today
was to agree on a new pan-regional body which would exclude
the US and Canada and eclipse the toothless Washington-based
Organisation of American States.
The host president, Calderón, said it will defend democracy
and human rights and foster co-operation in the region. A
working summit document leaked to the Associated Press, said
a possible name for the new body, which is expected to be
inaugurated next year, would be the "Latin American and
Caribbean Community".
Pledges of solidarity were overshadowed by a row between
Chávez and Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe. The Venezuelan
socialist has frozen commercial ties to his neighbour in a
dispute over the US military personnel involved in Colombia's
battle against leftist guerrillas and narco-traffickers.
At a lunch from which the media were excluded, exchanges
between the two leaders, whose mutual loathing is
longstanding, reportedly escalated into a shouting match.
According to accounts in several Mexican and regional
newspapers, Chávez said "vete al carajo", which can be
translated either as go to hell, or go fuck yourself, and
threatened to walk out.
Uribe reportedly replied that the Venezuelan should "be a
man" and stay to argue his case rather than hurl insults from
afar. Cuba's president, Raúl Castro, intervened to cool the
row.
_____________________________________________
Drilling (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/23/argentina-uk-falkland-row-oil)
Solidarity vote is a diplomatic bonus for Cristina
Kirchner but backing of Venezuela and Brazil unlikely to
end UK drilling
By Rory Carroll, Latin American correspondent
February 2010
Guardian (UK)
Latin America and Caribbean nations appeared to close ranks
behind -Argentina today in its dispute with Britain over oil
exploration in Falkland islands' waters.
A summit of 32 countries in Mexico endorsed an Argentine
document accusing Britain of flouting international law by
permitting drilling to begin this week, said Argentina's
president, Cristina Kirchner.
"We have achieved very strong support, something that
legitimates our claims fundamentally against the new
petroleum activity."
The Argentine statement quoted Mexico's president, Felipe
Calderón, saying: "The heads of state represented here
reaffirm their support for the legitimate rights of the
republic of Argentina in the sovereignty dispute with Great
Britain."
The Rio Group summit, meeting in Cancún, made no immediate
official statement but there was no doubting support for
Argentina from leftist allies. Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and
Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega demanded the UK hand back the
Falklands, which Argentinians call las Malvinas, to Buenos
Aires.
The longstanding sovereignty dispute flared earlier this
month over the arrival of a rig, the Ocean Guardian, which is
to drill offshore for oil and gas deposits which could turn
the windswept archipelago into an oil magnate.
Desire Petroleum, a small British company, started drilling
on Monday about 60 miles north of the islands. Geologists say
there could be up to 60bn barrels although sceptics doubt
that they are commercially viable.
The row has brought Anglo-Argentine relations to a new low
since the 1982 conflict but Kirchner ruled out any attempt to
blockade the islands.
Analysts said Buenos Aires scored a diplomatic victory in
mustering regional solidarity but that the practical effects
were negligible.
"Beyond making Kirchner, and some other Latin American
leaders, feel good and perhaps getting a bit of a political
bounce at home, the collective regional posture will mean
very little on the ground," said Michael Shifter of the
Inter-American Dialogue think- tank.
"Though the Argentine government will keep the issue alive
and make a lot of noise, further escalation of the dispute is
improbable, and Britain will continue drilling for oil."
The main purpose of the two-day summit, which finished today
was to agree on a new pan-regional body which would exclude
the US and Canada and eclipse the toothless Washington-based
Organisation of American States.
The host president, Calderón, said it will defend democracy
and human rights and foster co-operation in the region. A
working summit document leaked to the Associated Press, said
a possible name for the new body, which is expected to be
inaugurated next year, would be the "Latin American and
Caribbean Community".
Pledges of solidarity were overshadowed by a row between
Chávez and Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe. The Venezuelan
socialist has frozen commercial ties to his neighbour in a
dispute over the US military personnel involved in Colombia's
battle against leftist guerrillas and narco-traffickers.
At a lunch from which the media were excluded, exchanges
between the two leaders, whose mutual loathing is
longstanding, reportedly escalated into a shouting match.
According to accounts in several Mexican and regional
newspapers, Chávez said "vete al carajo", which can be
translated either as go to hell, or go fuck yourself, and
threatened to walk out.
Uribe reportedly replied that the Venezuelan should "be a
man" and stay to argue his case rather than hurl insults from
afar. Cuba's president, Raúl Castro, intervened to cool the
row.
_____________________________________________