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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MAY 21, 1982
PAGE
6 ·
ON THE WORLD SCENE
BRITAIN CONFRONTS
TWO
CRISES AS SPLIT IN
WESTERN
WORLD WIDENS: A FALSE
CHRIST IS ABOUT
TO
APPEAR As all-out war looms in the Falkland Islands,
allied support for Britain's position is eroding. At the same time a rift
is developing between the Anglo-Saxon Protestant powers on one hand (the
United States confirmed publicly its support for Britain on April 30) and
the Spanish-culture Roman Catholic world on the other. The latter side now
is being joined by other Catholic cultures, even in Europe.
The Falklands conflict has taken a curious twist during its development.
At first, America tried to walk the stony middle ground between Buenos
Aires and London while Britain's allies in the European Community rallied
almost immediately to her
side. The
EC quickly rammed through
a
one-month
trade embargo against Argentina. But continental (and Irish) support for
the British position began to melt away once the shooting started.
Early this week Italy and Ireland balked at continuing the Argentine trade
sanctions a second month. Only a week's extention was agreed to, and Italy
and Ireland will abide only on the imports side of it. As the LOS ANGELES
TIMES
rep0rted in its May 18, 1982 edition, in a dispatch from Luxembourg,
site of the EC meeting:
Four out of 10 Argentines are of Italian descent, and the Italian
Parliament in a bitter debate last week indicated overwhelming
disapproval of any extension of the embargo. Italian EOlitical
leaders have talked recently about "blood �" with the
Argentines. And the .Irish government, which follows a neutral
foreign policy, also would have faced internal eriticism for
supporting Britain on any military action that smacked of
colonialism.
Had no compromise been achieved here, the failure of the EEC to
extend the embargo in any form would have signaled a significant
erosion of European support for Britain's strategy at a critical
juncture.
Spain, while not a member of the EC, would like to become one nevertheless.
It would have to have British support for entry. Hence the Spanish nation
is in a quandary over the Falklands crisis. The Spanish public has shown
strong support for Argentina• s seizure of the Falklands.
Parallels to
Spain's dispute with Britain over Gibraltar are certainly made. Spanish
officials admit privately that they are under monumental pressure to show
open support for Argentina.
One top Spanish official puts it this way:
"This is the worst thing that could have happened to us."
Serious Common Market Rift
At the same
time,
Britain
1
s relations with
its
fellow Common Market members
are stormy once again over economic issues, after a short lull during which
time the British share of the EC budget had been readjusted in Britain's
favor. Britain's relations with its nine partners in the EEC plunged to a
new low in May when other member governments voted through 1982-83 farm
price increases without Britain's consent.
Here is a REUTERS dispatch concerning this development: