Don't laugh at us, Argentina: Why we should shun suggestions that we prop up Argentinian debt
Angry: Never mind Sean Penn's absurd soundbites about the Falklands, the British taxpayer has also been taken for a ride by Argentina
It's bad enough having the absurd Sean Penn mouthing idiocies about the Falklands, but now we learn that, on top of subsidising Greece and the rest of the PIGS (Portugal, Italy and Spain), the long suffering British taxpayer has also been taken for a ride by Argentina - to the tune of over £450 million.
Simon Weston, the face - and the heart and the soul - of courage if ever there was one, has rightly condemned this insult to his comrades who died fighting to free the Falklands from the Argentine military junta which had invaded the islands.
The United States may have been slow to support the UK at the start of the Falklands War, but, once the going got tough, Caspar Weinberger, the half-British US Defence Secretary, gave invaluable and unstinting assistance to the British forces who liberated the islands.
Now it's time for the UK to return the favour.
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A high powered US delegation, led by Ambassador Nancy Soderberg and the Hon. Robert J. Shapiro, is in London this week, to urge the British Government to stop bailing out a profligate Argentine regime which, on top of its hostility to the Falklands, has a disgraceful record of failing to repay the gigantic debts it has accumulated over decades of misrule and economic mismanagement.
Outrage: Simon Weston, the face of courage if ever there was one, has rightly condemned this insult to his fallen comrades
The United States is opposing plans by the World Bank to lend billions of dollars to Argentina until it starts to honour the debts on which it has defaulted. Argentina deserves to be treated as a pariah state for defaulting on payments to creditors overseas, whilst holding over $50 billion in reserves.
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Bailing out Greece - a NATO ally - is one thing, but dishing out money to a country which is threatening the freedom of British citizens in the Falklands is another.
The UK must back American attempts to stop financing Argentina's irresponsible behaviour. If it doesn't, then not only will the Argentines be laughing in our faces, but theirs will be the last laugh.
We can never adequately repay the debt we owe Simon Weston and his fallen comrades. We must not add insult to injury by propping up an Argentine regime which makes no attempt to honour its own debts.
