World View: Pope Francis May Side with Argentina in Falklands Dispute

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Pope Francis may side with Argentina in Falklands dispute with Britain
• Venezuela’s Maduro says that Chávez picked the Pope
• Venezuela won’t be embalming Chávez, after all
• As Egypt deteriorates, what will the army do?

Pope Francis may side with Argentina in Falklands dispute with Britain

Kirchner and Bergoglio shake hands in this 2008 photo. (AP)

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner never got alongvery well with Jorge Mario Bergoglio when he was the Buenos AiresArchbishop. They clashed in 2010 when Bergoglio opposed Kirchner’sbill to allow gay marriages, saying:

“[The gay marriage bill is a] plan to destroy God’splan. This is no mere legislative bill. It is a move by thefather of lies to confuse and deceive the children of God. Ifapproved, this law would be a real and dire anthropologicalthrowback.”

Kirchner said Bergoglio’s comments were “really reminiscent of thetimes of the Inquisition.”

But that was just the latest skirmish in a long-running battle withthe government to re-litigate alleged repression and torture by theCatholic Church during the military government from 1976-83.

However, now that Bergoglio has become Pope Francis, Kirchner ischanging her attitude towards him, asking him to intervene in thedisagreement between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland/Malvinesislands. His frequently stated views in the past are that the islandsbelong to Argentina. In a memorial mass last year marking 30 yearssince the 1982 war between the two countries over the islands, hesaid:

“We come to pray for those who have fallen, sons ofthe homeland who set out to defend their mother, the homeland, toclaim the country that is theirs and they wereusurped.”

However, it’s expected that Pope Francis will completely avoid theissue. It was Pope Alexander VI who divided the New World betweenPortugal and Spain in the 15th century, but there are no recentprecedents for a pope becoming involved in a territorial dispute andexperts believe it is unlikely he would wish – or have the time – tobecome embroiled in the matter. NBC Latino and Buenos Aires Herald and Guardian (London)

Venezuela’s Maduro says that Chávez picked the Pope

Venezuela’s acting president, Nicolás Maduro, is suggesting that HugoChávez may have had a hand in the selection of Jorge Mario Bergoglioof Argentina as the new Pope. According to Maduro:

“We know that our commander ascended to the heightsand is face-to-face with Christ. Something influenced the choiceof a South American pope, someone new arrived at Christ’s side andsaid to him: ‘Well, it seems to us South America’s time hascome.'”

He (Chávez) may also call a constitutional assembly in Heaven atany moment to change the (Catholic) church on Earth so the people,the pure people of Christ, may govern the world.”

Last week, Maduro announced an investigation into charges that “imperial forces,” particularlyfrom the United States, conspired to kill Chávez by injecting him withsomething that gave him cancer. Reuters

Venezuela won’t be embalming Chávez, after all

An employee adjusts the embalmed body of Nicolai Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) (AFP)

Venezuela’s acting president, Nicolás Maduro, said that it is highlyunlikely that the body of Hugo Chávez will be embalmed, after all.The bodies of dictators Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong were allembalmed, and are on permanent display for posterity. But Maduro saidthat the decision to embalm Chávez’s body was not made in time, andnow it probably can no longer be embalmed. BBC

As Egypt deteriorates, what will the army do?

Egypt is getting out of control: The police are on strike in a numberof cities, the civil disobedience in Port Said is in its fourth week,hooligans are attacking and ransacking public buildings, and angryyouth are clashing with anti-riot police on daily basis. Thegovernment has been unable to end chronic fuel shortages while largeparts of Sinai suffer from lawlessness. The economy is on the brinkof collapse and the stock market has been losing billions of poundsevery day. The economy is suffering and negotiations with the IMFover a $4.8 billion loan are faltering. Everyday there is death andmayhem somewhere in the country. And now a high court has ordered thesuspension of parliamentary elections, throwing government processesinto total chaos. The time may be coming close when the army willtake over. Arab News

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner,Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, Pope Alexander VI,Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chávez, Egypt, Port Said,Sinai, IMF
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail