Press TV – February 6, 2013

Argentinean Foreign Minister Hector Timerman says the Israeli regime has no right to interfere in the proceedings of the AMIA issue underway between Argentina and Iran.

Israel recently called for an explanation about an agreement between Iran and Argentina to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the 1994 deadly bombing at a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

“Israel has no right to demand explanations; we’re a sovereign state,” Timerman told Israel’s ambassador to Buenos Aires Dorit Shavit.

“Israel doesn’t speak in the name of the Jewish people and doesn’t represent it,” Timerman added.

Those who live in Argentina are Argentinean citizens and Israel’s involvement in the issue will only give ammunition to anti-Semites, the Argentinean foreign minister stated.

On January 27, 2013, Iran and Argentina signed a memorandum of understanding for the two countries to shed light on the 1994 bombing on the AMIA building in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded 300 others.

The Israeli foreign ministry issued a statement on January 28, 2013, saying they were “astonished and disappointed” at the deal.

Israel summoned Argentina’s envoy Atilio Norberto Molteni the following day in protest against the deal. The Tel Aviv regime also asked Shavit to demand a meeting with Timerman to “seek clarifications.”

Under intense political pressure imposed by the United States and Israel, Argentina formally accused Iran of having carried out the 1994 bombing attack on the AMIA. The Islamic Republic has vehemently and consistently denied any involvement in the bombing.

Related article

• Iran-Argentina AMIA agreement shocks “Israel” (realisticbird.wordpress.com)

The Falkland Islands will be back under Argentine control within “20 years”, the country’s Foreign Minister Hector Timerman has said.

On a visit to London, he claimed “not one” other nation supported UK sovereignty of the Falklands.  Mr Timerman said Britain had “occupied” the islands for “access to oil and natural resources”.

Mr Timerman was confronted by elected representatives of the Falkland Islands in the House of Commons Lobby on Tuesday but he refused to accept a letter about the future of the Islands or to talk to the representatives.  He was in the Commons to address the All Party Group on Argentina.

A referendum on the Falkland Islands political status will be held in March.

Rehmat’s World |  October 1, 2012

Argentina’s Jewish foreign minister Hector Timerman held bilateral talks with his Iranian counter-part Ali Akbar Salehi at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the day after Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s landmark address at the UNGA. The Jewish press has reported that they discussed the 1992 terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 attack on the Jewish center AMIA. Israel blamed both Hizbullah and Iran for the attacks. However, till today, Israel and Argentian Jewish groups have failed to provide any genuine evidence to prove their claim.

Both Israel and the United States have criticized Hector Timerman for meeting the Iranian foreign minister and especially for agreeing to continue these negotiations through government officials in Geneva next month.

Roberta Jacobson, the Jewish US assistant secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs said in a news conference last week:

“Iran has had a nearly 20 years to comply with the requests from Argentine justice on the issues of the bombing of the Israeli embassy and the AMIA building. I’m not necessarily optimistic that they will respond any more positively now then they have in the past. Right now is the time for the international community to remain united in isolating Iran.“

Tehran denies the Israel-US allegations.

The Argentinian presiding judge on the case, Galeono, was dismissed for taking a bribe from Mossad and fabricating evidence against the Iranian diplomat Soleimanpour.

A British court refused to order the extradition of the Iranian diplomat.

Adrian Salbuchi on March 2, 2008 wrote in his column titled War in the Middle East: The Final Countdown:

“Argentina’s judiciary is thus acting on the requirement of Bush administration and powerful international and local pro-Israel Zionist lobbying organizations on Argentine president Nestor Kirchner, demanding that he falsely accuse Iran for that terrorist attack. Indications are that Mr. Kirchner bowed to this manipulation in spite of the fact that after more than twelve years since that attack, the United States, Israel, and key Zionist organizations have not been successful in fabricating sustainable proof of any involvement on the part of Syria, Iran or Hezbollah. At the same time, Argentina’s judiciary and intelligence agencies have systematically ignored much more plausible circumstances and evidence which point to the fact that this criminal attack may very well have been the result of deeply embedded conflicts INSIDE of Israel, in particular, and Zionist interests in general“.

Norberto Ceresole (died 2003), was a political activist, writer, author, former advisor to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’ close friend of French philosopher Roger Garaudy – and one of South America’s experts on Israeli terrorism. Ceresole, through various demonstrations, proved that the AMIA bombing had to be an inside job bombing to reduce a seven story building to rubble like the WTC buildings on September 11, 2001. He had called it a duplicate of the Oklahoma city bombing or the 9/11 terrorist attacks carried out by Israeli assets.

Ceresole exposed the Israeli Shin Beth as the actual bombers behind the 1992 Israeli embassy bombing in Buenos Aires.  Shin Beth had complete security at the embassy and a bomb that size could never have been brought in. The Shin Beth also refused to allow any independent investigation of the embassy. Only Mossad was allowed access to the site.

From the very beginning, both Washington and Tel Aviv had accused Tehran and Hizbullah. However, despite pressure from these capitals and the powerful pro-Israel Jewish lobby groups, such as, the American Jewish Committee, the Asociacion Mutual Israelita and the Delegation of Argentine-Israeli Associations – the case has remained open as Tehran has always insisted: “Where is the proof?”

In 2004, the Argentine Supreme Court indicted former President Carlos Menem, Ruben Beraja (former head of Delegation of Argentine-Israeli Association), Judge Juan Jose Galeano, and several agents from country’s intelligence agency for the cover-up of the terrorists involved.

The AMIA and car bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina was another one of Mossad’s false flag operations around the world. Read here, and here.

From the latest reaction of the US and Israel – it proves once again that they don’t want the world to know the truth about their terrorist activities in Argentina and around the world which they always blame on Muslims.

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Het VVD-Ministerie van Klasse Justitie heeft ons laten weten dat zij geen onderzoek in zullen stellen naar deze strafbare feiten. De beroeps-leugenaar-woordvoerder van justitie: “wij wijzen u op ons vervolgingsbeleid in dit soort van Elite-gangster misdaden en dat is kort door de bocht: “die worden door ons nooit vervolgt”. Denkt u maar aan de miljarden bouwfraude en nu recentelijk weer de zwarte 32000 miljard, daar is ook niemand voor de bak in gegaan:
“Een bouwkartel van Nederlands grootste bouwbedrijven heeft Rijkswaterstaat en andere opdrachtgevers de afgelopen jaren voor vele honderden miljoenen guldens opgelicht, enz.”
Bron: Zembla

De Argentijnse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Héctor Timerman heeft Boskalis als straf voor de veronderstelde omkopingspoging uitgesloten van de maandag begonnen aanbestedingsstrijd voor de verdieping en verbreding van het Martin Garciakanaal, een belangrijke verbinding tussen de Uruguayrivier en de Rio de la Plata. Daarmee lijkt de opdracht naar een concurrent te gaan: Van Oord, of de Vlaamse baggeraars Jan de Nul of Dredging International.

Boskalis verwerpt de beschuldigingen. ‘Elke vorm van omkoping is voor ons onbespreekbaar’, zegt een woordvoerder. Volgens het baggerbedrijf zou een Argentijns lid van de Comisión Administradora del Río de la Plata (CARP), het Argentijns-Uruguyaanse bestuur van het mondingsgebied, tijdens een etentje een onoorbaar voorstel hebben gedaan.

De Argentijn zou Uruguayaanse commisssieleden geld hebben geboden om in contact te treden met een agent van Riovia, de lokale dochteronderneming van Boskalis International.

Akkoord
Door het op een akkoord te gooien met de Uruguayanen zou Riovia een aanbestedingsstrijd kunnen ontlopen. Boskalis was met Riovia al sinds medio jaren negentig verantwoordelijk voor het onderhoud van het Martin Garciakanaal en zou ook de uitbreiding van de waterweg voor zijn rekening kunnen nemen. Maar volgens Boskalis heeft Riovia nooit op enigerlei wijze opdracht gegeven om in contact te komen met de Uruguayaanse CARP-delegatie. De Uruguayanen zouden het etentje uit woede over het voorstel hebben verlaten.

Uruguayaanse ambtenaren bevestigden in eerste instantie de poging tot omkoping, maar trokken hun verklaring later weer in om het al jaren slepende dispuut over het kanaal niet nog meer te vertragen. De presidenten van Uruguay en Argentinië, José Mujica en Cristina Kirchner, voerden dinsdag crisisoverleg over de patstelling.

Knooppunt
Uruguay beschuldigt Argentinië ervan de uitbreiding van het kanaal te traineren. Vrachtschepen zouden daardoor makkelijker toegang krijgen tot de Uruguayaanse haven Nueva Palmiras, knooppunt voor de export van graan, oliezaad en houtpulp. Maar de Argentijnen vrezen de Uruguayaanse concurrentie voor havensteden als Buenos Aires en zouden daarom het bij Argentinië gelegen Emilio Mitrekanaal voortrekken.

Boskalis zegt in onderhandeling te zijn met Argentinië en Uruguay over verlenging van het onderhoudscontract voor het Martin Garciakanaal tot het eind van dit jaar. Met het contract is volgens een woordvoerder 1 miljoen dollar (810 miljoen euro) per maand gemoeid. Boskalis blijft geïnteresseerd in het contract voor de uitbreiding van het kanaal, maar zegt het aanbestedingsproces nu lijdzaam te moeten afwachten.
Door: Jonathan Witteman

Discussion: President Cristina Kirchner shows a document to David Cameron during a brief encounter after a G20 summit meeting in Mexico (Picture: AFP/Getty)

The prime minister said she should ‘respect the views’ of islanders during a verbal exchange between the pair yesterday in Mexico.

Ms Fernandez, who was accused by Mr Cameron’s aides of being involved in a ‘stunt’ for a TV crew, attempted to force a brown envelope into the British premier’s hands.

However, he had been briefed by aides not to accept and refused to take it.

Refusal: Mr Cameron refuses to accept a brown envelope from Ms Kirchner (Picture: EPA)

Speaking shortly afterwards, Argentinian foreign minister Hector Timerman said: ‘Nation states have the obligation to talk.

‘We prepared an envelope containing various papers but the prime minister refused to receive it.

‘Britain continues to refuse to talk and what surprised me most was that David Cameron did not go to the decolonisation meeting on Thursday.’

Earlier, Mr Cameron had sought out Ms Fernandez in the margins at the summit for a brief exchange on the Falklands issue.

Accusatory: Hector Timerman (Picture: Reuters)

During a brief conversation, he said: ‘I am not proposing a full discussion now on the Falklands, but I hope you noted they are holding a referendum and you should respect their views.

‘We believe in self-determination and act as democrats here in the G20.’

However, during a later press conference Mr Timerman again returned to the conflict, adding: ‘The UK is the most famous colonialist in the world, not Argentina.

‘They cannot demand to other countries to respect [UN] resolutions when they do not do so.’

Argentine Olympic hockey player Fernando Zylberberg is seen training on the streets of Port Stanley in the advert.

Foreign secretary Hector Timerman attacked British defence minister Philip Hammond after he called for Argentina to apologise for the film.

Mr Timerman said: ‘Britain’s defence minister demands, like a mighty knight, that Argentina expresses its regret for the creativity of an advert which sums up what we feel.

‘He has still not explained what punishment he will select if we refuse to obey his demands. He ought to know the world is a safer place when you use creativity instead of bombing civilian populations in independent countries.’

The advert, featuring hockey player Fernando Zylberberg, ends with the slogan: ‘To compete on English soil, we train on Argentinian soil.’

It has been condemned by the International Olympic Committee, and Sir Martin Sorrell, boss of WPP, which part owns the agency responsible.

VIDEO: Watch the controversial Olympics advert

LOS ANGELES, April 27 – Borders & Southern, the UK oil firm which currently holds five exploration licenses offshore the Falkland Islands, is apparently unmoved over recent legal threats issued by Argentina’s government.

Indeed, far from shrinking away, Borders & Southern has just raised more cash for further exploration – a sign that the firm, as well as its investors, has little concern about the bluster emanating from Buenos Aires.

“We are delighted to announce the success of this conditional fundraising,” said Howard Obee, Chief Executive of Borders & Southern, referring to the more than £46 million the UK-based firm raised in the placement of 55 million shares at 84 pence each.

“The proceeds of the placing will strengthen our already robust balance sheet and allow Borders & Southern to complete additional work including additional seismic and analysis to better understand the recent drilling results,” said Obee.

Investors were not thrown off by the company’s earlier report – seen as disappointing by some – of its discovery of gas instead of oil in the chilly waters off the Falklands, also known as Las Malvinas in Spanish.

GAS CONDENSATE

Borders & Southern said it discovered gas condensate, otherwise known as “wet” gas, in its Darwin well. Borders & Southern described the find as a large and simple structure that is likely to contain “significant” volumes of gas.

Neither Borders & Southern nor any of its investors mentioned a word about threats of legal action coming from Argentina. For that matter none of the other companies named by Argentina’s foreign ministry yesterday acknowledged the threats either.

Meanwhile, leaders in Argentina continued to defend their government’s decision to nationalize Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales, with Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman dismissing as “unacceptable” criticism by European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

“I find your criticism to our country’s trade policies unacceptable,” said Timerman in a letter to De Gucht. “Argentina complies with its international obligations,” he said.

“The decisions that [Argentina] makes on trade are transparent and consistent with the norms and commitments taken in the World Trade Organization,” Timerman said in his letter.

SENDING SHOCK-WAVES

“By taking this action, Argentina has sent shock-waves through the international business community,” De Gucht had said earlier, referring to the seizure of Repsol YPF by the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

“The consequences for its own economic development will be felt for a long time to come,” De Gucht told the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade.

De Gucht also said that the action by Argentina is a reminder “of the importance of moving quickly to equip the European Union with all the means it needs to implement an effective investment policy.”

Timerman couldn’t resist using his letter to take a swipe at Catherine Ashton, the EU’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, “who did not reply to any of the calls I made to her to discuss why the UK refused to comply with the UN resolutions on the Malvinas sovereignty issue.”

US VIEW

The UK and Spain are hardly the only nations that Argentina has a difficult relationship with these days, a point underlined by Roberta Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Speaking to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere on April 25, Jacobson told Congressmen that the US finds its relationship with Argentina challenging.

“Frankly, there are areas of the relationship that are very challenging and which are not moving ahead,” she said, adding that, “some of those are Argentina’s relationship to the international financial community.”

“You know, we think that Argentina needs to get itself back positive relationship with the international financial community, both for their own economic future and for the system and those creditors in the United States and elsewhere,” she said.

FOUR LEGS GOOD

The entire Argentine government none the less appears to be assuming a single voice when it comes to Repsol YPF matter, all trying to justify the takeover as a result of the firm’s underinvestment in the country’s oil and gas industry.

Planning Minister Julio De Vido, Economy Minister Hernán Lorenzino, and Deputy Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, referring to an ad placed by Repsol in the nation’s newspapers, all denied the firm had ever invested $20 billion in the country.

“Between 1998 and 2011 YPF experienced a 54% drop in oil production and a 97% fall in gas production,” said Lorenzino, adding that “This clearly implies damage to the economy and translates into damage on the people.”

About the only thing not said by ministers in justification of the takeover was “four legs good, two legs bad.” But then this is Argentina and not Animal Farm, right?

© Glamma Productions 2012

HMS Gloucester is watched by a group of King penguins while anchored off South Georgia (Picture: EPA)

The country’s foreign minister Hector Timerman warned companies of ‘administrative, civil and criminal penalties’ if they did not cease operations.

He said the natural resources of the South Atlantic were the ‘property of all the Argentines’, including any oil off the islands the country calls Las Malvinas.

The UK Foreign Office said Argentina’s comments were ‘wholly counter-productive’.

‘These latest attempts to damage the economic livelihoods of the Falkland Islands people regrettably reflect a pattern of behaviour by the Argentine government,’ a spokeswoman said.

Argentina said oil exploration off the Falkland Islands was illegal (Picture: EPA)

‘We are studying Argentina’s remarks carefully and will work closely with any company potentially affected to ensure that the practical implications for them are as few as possible.’

Salisbury-based Rockhopper Exploration is the only company to discover oil in the South Atlantic and is currently seeking a $2billion (£1. billion) investment to fund crude production.

The Foreign Office spokeswoman added: ‘Hydrocarbon exploration in the Falklands is a legitimate commercial venture.

A car with the Union Jack painted on the roof passes by in Port Stanley, the Falkland Islands (Picture: Reuters)

‘The British government supports the right of the Falkland Islanders to develop their own natural resources for their own economic benefit. This right is an integral part of their right of self-determination.’

Tensions between the UK and Argentina over the Falklands have escalated ahead of the 30th anniversary of the war between the two countries there later this year.

UK prime minister David Cameron and Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner have both accused each other of leading colonial governments, while Buenos Aires said the deployment of the Duke of Cambridge to the South Atlantic as an RAF rescue pilot represented a ‘militarisation’ of the dispute.

Timerman and Patriota expressed concern about the “possible presence of nuclear weapons in the South Atlantic area”. (Mercopress)

Argentina and Brazil Foreign Affairs ministers said in Sao Paulo both countries are committed that the next Summit of the Americas to be held in April in Colombia is the last without the participation of Cuba.

“This has to be the last summit in which Cuba does not participate”, said Argentine minister Hector Timerman, standing next to Brazil’s Antonio Patriota. The presence of Cuba is necessary so that “finally we have a Summit of the Americas”

Patriota recalled that at the previous summit then President Lula da Silva had openly expressed the support and need for Cuba to attend the meeting.

Read more…

Brazilian and Argentine Foreign Affairs Ministers Antonio Patriota and Hector Timerman, respectively, will meet in Sao Paulo on Tuesday to review bilateral cooperation projects in strategic areas, announced the Foreign Affairs ministry.

According to the brief press release of the Brazilian foreign ministry, Patriota and Timerman will review the main topics of the bilateral agenda, placing emphasis on the collaboration programs in science and technology, energy integration and production chains.

The two Foreign ministers will also discuss regional and international topics of interest. Official figures show that Brazil is Argentina’s main trading partner.

Read more…

Argentina foreign minister Hector Timerman presents a dossier to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Tensions between the UK government and its counterpart in Buenos Aires have been growing in recent months, as the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War approaches.Argentine ministers have described the decision to send Prince William to the south Atlantic archipelago as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot as ‘provocative’, and are also angry about HMS Dauntless being deployed on routine operations in the area.

HMS Dauntless, pictured on patrol in the Falkland Islands (Picture: PA)

It has now taken its complaints to the United Nations and Ban Ki-moon, the organisation’s secretary general, today called on both the UK and Argentina to stop escalating the dispute.

However, hours later Mr Timerman gave a press conference in which he claimed a Royal Navy Vanguard submarine had been sent to the Falklands and that the Ministry of Defence had refused to say whether or not it was carrying nuclear warheads.

He added that Britain was using an ‘unjustified defence of self-determination’ as an excuse to retain a strategically important military base on the Falklands.

‘No change’: Sir Mark Lyall Grant (Picture: AP)

Sir Mark Lyall Grant, the UK’s ambassador to the UN, said it was government policy not to comment on the location of nuclear weapons.

However, he described the accusation Britain was militarising the situation as ‘manifestly absurd’.

‘Before 1982 there was a minimal defence presence in the Falkland Islands,’ he explained.

‘It is only because Argentina illegally invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982 that since then we had to increase our defence posture. Nothing has changed in that defence posture in recent months or recent years.’ 

In a ceremony in Buenos Aires, Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman said that “The mere fact of bringing together, united, all countries of Latin America and the Caribbean is something that history will recall.” He added that the inclusion of the Caribbean is “crucial piece in the unity recovery process for the region which had been divided, many times by fictitious reactions which were inspired in the attitudes of the dominating powers of the time.”

President of Ecuador Rafael Correa also praised the move saying that his aspiration would be for CELAC to replace the Organization of American States (OAS), which he finds is too much under the influence of “hegemonic countries.” Correa questioned that Latin American problems should be addressed in Washington, when the US does not recognize the Pact of San Jose de Costa Rica on fundamental guarantees.

In reference to CELAC, the host President, Hugo Chávez, emphasized that Latin America is now no longer with its back turned to the Eastern Caribbean and said that “we will carry out this summit to ensure that Latin America and the Caribbean will be consolidated as a zone of peace, of democracy.”

For the moment, the following leaders have been confirmed: Argentina (Cristina Fernández), Brasil (Dilma Roussef), Bolivia (Evo Morales), Cuba (Raúl Castro), Chile (Sebastián Piñera), Colombia (Juan Manuel Santos), Ecuador (Rafael Correa), Guyana (Bharrat Jagdeo), Guatemala (Álvaro Colom), Nicaragua (Daniel Ortega), México (Felipe Calderón), Paraguay (Fernando Lugo), and Uruguay (José Mujica).

For original articles, see http://en.mercopress.com/2011/11/23/argentina-has-great-hopes-with-the-caribbean-back-in-the-latinamerican-fold (in English) and http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/CELAC-integración-regional-sin-tutelaje-del-norte (in Spanish)

(CNN) — Gunmen shot dead Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral Saturday as his car made its way to the airport in Guatemala City, police said.

The singer’s agent was also shot and is in stable condition in the hospital, said police spokesman Donald Gonzalez.

In Guatemala on a Latin American tour, Cabral, 74, left his hotel at 5:40 a.m. in a white SUV for an eight-minute ride to the airport.

Gunmen attacked the SUV — at least 20 bullet holes could be seen on the Range Rover. Nothing was reported stolen from the vehicle, government spokesman Ronaldo Robles said.

Police found a brown Hyundai Santa Fe nearby containing bullet-proof vests and AK-47 magazines.

A motive for the killing of one of Latin America’s best-known folk singers remained unclear. Robles said an investigation was underway.

“Adios amigo!” said Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman on Twitter.

Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu traveled to the site of the attack, where she wept and said the singer had died “for his ideals,” according to Notimex, the state-run news agency in Mexico.

“I can’t think of a single reason why Cabral was killed here in Guatemala. He came just to sing,” Notimex reported she said.

Cabral was the latest victim in a wave of violence that has rocked Guatemala ahead of elections.

In a report last month, the International Crisis Group warned that the violence and unregulated campaign finance were putting the country’s political institutions at risk.

Stephen McFarland, the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, echoed that warning Saturday.

“I think this of course hurts Guatemala’s image before the rest of the region and I believe that brings serious questions to the table about what can be done to prevent this from continuing,” he said.

Kind of hard to imagine, no? Clinton, after all, is in charge of the United States’ relations with foreign countries. Difficult to see her personally supervising a  police and customs operation, especially one that might prove embarrassing to a foreign country. Her role would be to inform the Argentine government of America’s displeasure at the attempt to bring arms into the US  without the proper paperwork and advise  Obama on what measures, if any, might be taken to make sure  that Argentina didn’t try to pull anything similar in the future.

Now consider Héctor Timerman. He’s Argentina’s Foreign Minister. If you’d bought today’s edition of the pro-government rag Pagina/12 you’d have seen a photo of him on the ramp at Ezeiza looking on as customs officers opened a case that the crew of an American C17 had insisted on keeping shut. The same aircraft apparently contained far more arms and other military equipment than it had been authorized to bring into the country for  a training course that American officers were to give to the Federal Police.  What the fuck were the Yanks up to? God knows, in any case, nothing good.

The point is that Timerman is paid to manage our relations with foreign countries and the United States, whatever mischief it might have been up to with the C17, is a rather important foreign country.  His credibility as an interlocutor with the Yanks will not, to put it mildly, have been  increased by his decision to  play the role of the heroic defender of national sovereignty by participating in an operation that can only have embarrassed them.

None of the foregoing should be understood as letting the Americans off the hook or to suggest that the apparently illegal importing of arms isn’t serious. It is. The thing is, when the appropriate apologies and explanations have been offered, we’re still going to need good relations with the Americans and these will now be  just a little bit harder to achieve thanks to a Foreign Minister who is more interested in generating personal popularity at home than representing the nation’s interest before foreign powers.