Argentina's president, Christina Kirchner, announced on Monday that Argentina would expropriate Repsol YPF, the largest oil company in the country. "Expropriation" means that Argentina waited until the share price was low and will now compulsorily purchase all of the shares, including the majority holding of the Spanish parent company, Repsol. "A tribunal would determine how much compensation that Repsol and other shareholders would receive for their YPF shares".
Fadel Gheit, a senior oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Company in New York, said: “The oil industry in Argentina is just getting ready to take off, but this may be a way to kill it in its infancy.”
Many countries have avoided investing in Argentina because it is politically risky but the Spanish have encouraged investment out of friendship. Kirchner has rewarded this friendship in the Argentine fashion. Other Spanish companies such as Telefonica and Santander are also exposed to Argentine takeovers.
The Argentine action has serious lessons for the British. Argentina is returning to "type" as a Latin American country that favours dictatorship. We all know how this ends. The British must either take the reinforcement of the Falkland Islands seriously and ensure that there are sufficient defences to oppose any attack, including nuclear artillery, or arrange a political settlement with a range of South American states.
The current failure of the USA to support Britain over the Falkland Islands raises an important military issue. To date the British have kept their major weaponry under the control of NATO, the British navy even accepted heavy losses in the Falklands War rather than use its modern weaponry. This was true heroism. Do the Americans want the British to be forced to break ranks or will they help to keep the world civilised?
See also:
The Falklands have always been Argentine
Fadel Gheit, a senior oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Company in New York, said: “The oil industry in Argentina is just getting ready to take off, but this may be a way to kill it in its infancy.”
Many countries have avoided investing in Argentina because it is politically risky but the Spanish have encouraged investment out of friendship. Kirchner has rewarded this friendship in the Argentine fashion. Other Spanish companies such as Telefonica and Santander are also exposed to Argentine takeovers.
The Argentine action has serious lessons for the British. Argentina is returning to "type" as a Latin American country that favours dictatorship. We all know how this ends. The British must either take the reinforcement of the Falkland Islands seriously and ensure that there are sufficient defences to oppose any attack, including nuclear artillery, or arrange a political settlement with a range of South American states.
The current failure of the USA to support Britain over the Falkland Islands raises an important military issue. To date the British have kept their major weaponry under the control of NATO, the British navy even accepted heavy losses in the Falklands War rather than use its modern weaponry. This was true heroism. Do the Americans want the British to be forced to break ranks or will they help to keep the world civilised?
See also:
The Falklands have always been Argentine
Comments