Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Argentina
Newsline: Falklands protesters attack British embassy in Buenos Aires
The government has condemned violent protesters who attacked the British embassy in Buenos Aires on the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war. Several hundred demonstrators pelted police officers with homemade firebombs and threw rocks and flaming bottles at the embassy as a series of events were held in Argentina and the UK to commemorate the 1982 conflict. Television footage showed riot police using a water cannon to disperse the group of extremists, who had earlier set fire to a union flag and an effigy of the Duke of Cambridge in protest against British rule of the islands. The violence came after the Argentinian president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, stoked the diplomatic battle between Buenos Aires and London by describing the UK’s control over the Falklands as unjust. However, David Cameron said he remained committed to upholding British sovereignty over the territory and insisted the islanders must be allowed to choose their nationality. Argentina’s complaints – including to the United Nations – of “militarisation” by the UK will be heightened by the deployment of the Royal Navy’s most advanced warship for its maiden operation. Destroyer HMS Dauntless will set sail from Portsmouth for the Falklands in what the the Ministry of Defence says is a “pre-planned and routine” six-month deployment in the South Atlantic. It comes after Argentinian hackles were raised by the “provocative” six-week deployment of Prince William to the islands as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot. The Foreign Office condemned “the violent actions of a minority” following the demonstration. It said in a statement: “All states are obliged under the Vienna convention to provide appropriate protection for foreign diplomatic missions. “We expect the Argentine government to continue to fulfil its obligations under the convention and continue fully to enforce the law against any demonstrators committing criminal acts.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/03/falklands-protesters-attack-british-embassy
Newsline: Argentina’s embassy warns banks supporting Falklands’ oil industry
As many as 15 British and US banks have received warning letters by the Argentine embassy in London about possible legal action over giving advice or even writing research reports about companies involved in the Falkland Islands’ nascent oil industry. The letters, written in Spanish, are aimed at cutting financial support for the five London-listed exploration companies looking for oil in the region, including Rockhopper Exploration, Borders & Southern, Falkland Oil & Gas, Desire Petroleum and Argos Resources. The banks targeted by the embassy include both those that have undertaken advisory and fundraising roles for the explorers and those that have written research notes on the subject. The unsigned letters said the institutions, which include Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs, could face criminal and civil action in the Argentine courts. The two-page letter, to which a schedule of legal declarations about the Malvinas’ ownership are attached, is intended to warn off the banks from any further involvement in the South Atlantic oil industry. Argentina has already said it would penalize companies which work with oil drillers exploring offshore the islands in the South Atlantic. Verbal sparring over the sovereignty of the Islands has heated up in recent months ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict.
http://en.mercopress.com/2012/04/02/argentina-sends-warning-letters-to-banks-supporting-falklands-oil-industry
Newsline: Israel will rebuild embassy in Argentina
Israel will rebuild its embassy in Argentina during 2013, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said at a ceremony where the building once stood. Ayalon was part of an Israeli diplomatic mission to Buenos Aires to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the embassy in the Argentinian capital. The March 17, 1992 bombing killed 29 and injured hundreds, and destroyed the building. Israel’s embassy in Buenos Aires is now located on two floors of a downtown office building, and is not identified by flags or signs. Ayalon said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli government have decided to build a new embassy in Argentina. Iran is believed to be behind the bombing, but no one has been brought to justice in the case. Israel’s envoys focused on Iran and its influence in the region. Ayalon, Israeli Cabinet minister Yossi Peled, survivor Danny Carmon, former ambassador during the bombing Yitzhak Shefi, and current ambassador Daniel Gazit spoke on behalf of Israel. The ceremony was held on Embassy Israel Square, an empty space in which the embassy was located until 1992.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/03/18/3092199/israel-will-rebuild-embassy-in-argentina-minister-says
Newsline: Title fight causes diplomatic stir
The Philippines said it had lodged a diplomatic protest after rioting fans in Argentina attacked Filipino boxer Johnriel Casimero at the end of a bout with a hometown fighter. “Our embassy in Buenos Aires filed a protest… over the riot which… placed the safety and well-being of Mr Casimero and his team at great danger,” foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez said. “The ambassador of Argentina in Manila has (also) been summoned… this afternoon to express our concern about the riot and ask for explanation on the action taken by the Argentine government on the incident.” Casimero, the world’s number-two ranked junior-flyweight, was declared the winner by technical knockout of the non-title bout against Argentine former world champion Luis Alberto Lazarte in the seaside city of Mar del Plata. The American referee stopped the bout on Friday last week after the 40-year-old Argentine suffered successive knockdowns in the ninth and 10th rounds.
http://www.aljazeera.com/sport/boxing/2012/02/2012215155059124101.html
Newsline: Argentina to compensate victims of Israeli Embassy bombing
Relatives of victims of the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires will receive compensation fromArgentina. The Argentina Parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a special law of economic compensation for the families of the victims of the bombing, which killed 29 and injured 242 on March 17, 1992. Under the law, the families will receive $225,000 in the case of death, $158,000 for dramatic and severe injuries, and $540,709 for injuries, for a total of $40 million from the Argentine government. The Parliament also is examining the idea of paying compensation to victims of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center inBuenos Aires, in which 85 people were killed. The perpetrators of both crimes have never been caught.
Newsline: US denies visa to German investigative journalist
A journalists’ group in Argentina tried to intercede on behalf of one of its members who was permanently denied a U.S. visa after traveling to Washington to do research at the National Archives. Argentina’s foreign correspondents’ association sent a letter to the Embassy on behalf of Gabriele Weber, a German freelancer living in Argentina. Weber has long reported for German news media, specializing in investigations of Nazi war criminals and human rights violations in South America. She is perhaps best known for her lawsuit that forced Germany’s intelligence service last year to open thousands of files on top Nazi Adolf Eichmann, some of which showed that the U.S. and Germany knew he was hiding in Argentina after World War II. Embassy spokeswoman Shannon Farrell said privacy laws governing migration decisions prevented her from commenting on the visa denial.
http://world.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=26264&external=850268.proteus.fma
Newsline: South Africa hosted ‘wanted’ diplomat
An Iranian deputy foreign minister who has been visiting South Africa was listed by Interpol as being wanted in connection with a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people. Dr Hadi Soleimanpour is still wanted in Argentina, said Sergio Widder, Argentinian representative of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish human rights organisation. Department spokesman Clayson Monyela said he was not personally aware that Argentina had a warrant out for Soleimanpour”s arrest. Soleimanpour, 55, whose name was also spelt Solaimanpour, was Iran”s ambassador to Argentina when a bomb ripped through a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires on July 18 1994. A total of 85 people were killed and more than 300 injured. Nobody has ever been arrested in connection with the blast that flattened the seven-storey building, but Soleimanpour was among those wanted for questioning by Argentinian authorities. A list of questions submitted to Argentinian embassy officials in Pretoria went unanswered. Argentine Judge Juan José Galeano issued warrants for Soleimanpour”s arrest and on August 21 2003 he was seized by British authorities as Argentina attempted to have him extradited. The Telegraph newspaper reported at the time that he had been studying eco-tourism at the University of Durham when he was seized. The extradition request was rejected by British authorities in November 2003 because there was insufficient evidence to proceed with extradition, according to BBC News. In October 2006, Argentine prosecutors Alberto Nisman and Marcelo Martínez Burgos formally accused the government of Iran of directing the bombing, and the Hezbollah militia of carrying it out. The BBC reported at the time that they called for the arrest of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani and seven others. Their names were sent to Interpol and Interpol red notices were issued. On March 15 2007 Interpol issued a statement saying the red notices for Rafsanjani, former Iranian foreign affairs minister Ali Akbar Velayati and Soleimanpour had been withdrawn.
http://m.timeslive.co.za/?i=3692/0/0&artId=4143149&showonly=1
Newsline: Argentine embassy in Libya evacuated
Argentine embassy in Libya evacuatedForeign Minister Héctor Timerman announced that Argentina “has evacuated its embassy in Libya” and reported that the staff has been transferred to Malta due to the tense situation the African country is living in. The minister also said that after the request of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the country will send its White Helmets to the frontier with Tunisia, where massive groups of Libyans are leaving their country. “The UNHCR requested us to work with the Libyan refugees, so we sent the White Helmet to work in the area. We are sending them to the border with Tunisia,” Timerman added after heading the G77 + China encounter held in New York City. Due to the conflict in Lybia, the summit of the Southern Heads of State that was scheduled for June has been “re-scheduled” to be held in another country of Africa.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/60637/argentine-embassy-in-libya-evacuated
Newsline: Leaked Embassy Cable: Argentina Awash In Drug $
A secret U.S. Embassy cable sent from Buenos Aires a year ago bluntly describes Argentina as becoming awash in drug money due to lax prosecution of organized crime. The dispatch said the problem started with the president herself, who “stands to lose” by going after money launderers. The unvarnished language in the Dec. 1, 2009 cable – one of hundreds of documents exposed by the WikiLeaks website this week – made for banner headlines in Argentina’s opposition newspapers. Other leaked U.S. diplomatic cables also have shown Argentina’s leaders in an unflattering light, including one dated Dec. 31, 2009, in which the Embassy was asked to find out if President Cristina Fernandez was taking medicine to control her mental health. Another, from Sept. 10, 2009, shared unsubstantiated allegations that her Cabinet chief had ties to drug traffickers. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally called Fernandez to apologize on Thursday from Central Asia, where she spent much of her time reassuring various leaders that America has good intentions despite the blunt language of leaked diplomatic cables that were supposed to remain classified for decades. Fernandez responded by describing the importance of the friendship Argentina has with the United States, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. The Embassy’s guidance to Washington was: Don’t expect the Argentine government to do anything about it – least of all Fernandez and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, whose personal wealth soared during their years in office. Kirchner died in October. The couple had said that they made their money in real estate, and judges have declined to file charges after repeated investigations stalled in the courts. The cable said Argentina’s anti-money-laundering office had refused to respond to requests from Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg for investigative reports on allegedly suspicious transactions by the Kirchners themselves. “Some Embassy contacts argue that the current GoA leadership, including the President, stands to lose from honest and vigorous pursuit of money laundering,” said the cable, later adding, “It is probably unrealistic to expect that the GoA (government of Argentina) will funnel resources to prosecutors or make a concerted effort to pursue money launderers. The Kirchners and their circle simply have too much to gain themselves from continued lax enforcement.”
http://wap.cbsnews.com/site?t=sgiy9lucXpmCikEy6SpcIA&sid=cbsnews
Newsline: Argentina foreign minister quits, diplomat appointed
Argentina’s foreign minister resigned on Friday due to differences with President Cristina Fernandez and was replaced by the Argentine ambassador to the United States, government sources said. A Foreign Ministry statement said Jorge Taiana resigned because of “lack of support and differences” within the government over foreign policy decisions. Taiana had an “argument” with the president, but the reasons for his departure were not clear. Fernandez’s office said Taiana quit for personal reasons and his resignation had been accepted. He will be replaced by Hector Timerman, a former journalist and Argentina’s ambassador in Washington since 2007. Taiana, a respected sociologist and human rights activist who was imprisoned under Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship, was named foreign minister in 2005 by former president Nestor Kirchner and confirmed in the post two years later by his wife and current president Fernandez.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1816861020100618
