Argentina pins hopes on British visit
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from October 1990.
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The Foreign Office's minister responsible for Latin American relations, Tristan Garel-Jones, is scheduled to arrive in Buenos Aires on 7 October during a regional tour. Garel-Jones, who is due to meet President Carlos Menem during his three-day stay, will be the highest ranking British official to visit Argentina since 1981.
Argentina hopes Britain will become one of its major trade partners in the next few years.
The dispute over the South Atlantic archipelagos that led to the bloody Falklands war is still unresolved. Up to 1,000 men died in the 10-week war to wrest the British-held islands back from Argentine invaders. Bilateral trade has flourished since full diplomatic links were restablished in February, after over seven years of icy relations.
"This year we have already exported more than we did during all of 1989," Argentina's ambassador to Britain, Mario Campora, said in a recent radio interview. "The United Kingdom could become one of our top four or five trade partners within a couple of years."
In a further effort to promote bilateral commerce, Argentine Foreign Minister Domingo Cavallo in November is due to lead a delegation of Argentine businessmen to Britain.
Argentines also see recent political exchanges between Buenos Aires and London as good omens. Officials of Argentina's Peronist government were especially enthused by a letter sent by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher congratulating Menem for despatching two warships to join the Gulf blockade.
Members of Menem's cabinet believe that decision will help restore Argentina's diplomatic standing, showing that it is a trustworthy member of the international community.
