From Volume 36, Issue 47 of EIR Online, Published Dec. 4, 2009

Ibero-American News Digest

Argentine Economist: Greenpeace Is an Appendage of the British Empire

Nov. 25 (EIRNS)—Greenpeace is an appendage of the British Foreign Office and Prince Philip's malthusian World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and is out to sabotage Argentina's nuclear energy program. This was the message delivered by Argentine economist Carlos Andrés Ortíz, in an opinion piece published Oct. 30 in the daily Corrientes Opina, under the headline "Greenpeace Lies, in Service to the Crown."

Greenpeace, described by Ortíz as the "Taliban of ecologism," launched a hysterical attack on the government-backed bill submitted to Congress, authorizing the construction of a fourth nuclear plant, extending the operating life of the existing Embalse nuclear plant in Córdoba, and completing the small prototype 25 MW CAREM reactor, built entirely with Argentine technology.

After the Chamber of Deputies approved the bill Oct. 28, Greenpeace's local director, Juan Carlos Villalonga, accused the government of lying about a worldwide resurgence of state-financed nuclear energy, and demanded massive development of windmills instead.

Villalonga's rantings are what you'd expect from an organization whose founding was consecrated by the zero-growth-promoting Club of Rome, Ortíz responded, and whose financiers include the Anglo-Dutch oil conglomerate, Royal Dutch Shell. Under the guise of protecting the environment, Ortíz added, Greenpeace's real goal is to ensure that no developing nation ever emerges from "chronic underdevelopment."

The Argentine Senate voted the nuclear energy bill into law on Nov. 25, declaring that continued building of nuclear plants is a matter of "national interest" and of "strategic importance."

Brazil-Argentina Nuclear Cooperation Grows

Nov. 25 (EIRNS)—Since its creation in February 2008, the Argentine-Brazilian Binational Commission on Nuclear Energy (COBEN) has met eight times and approved 30 joint projects in the areas of nuclear reactors, the nuclear fuel cycle, regulatory activities, training of personnel, and particularly, nuclear applications to medicine.

COBEN's founding was a joint initiative of Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Brazilian President Lula da Silva. Among the binational projects they envision is the construction of two nuclear reactors, one in each country, to be built over the next four years. Technological know-how will be shared, along with engineering costs.

Given the devastating effects of a year-long drought, which has destroyed crops and cattle in both countries, on top of the massive electricity blackout which hit Brazil Nov. 9, the two Presidents placed a renewed emphasis on nuclear energy when they met in Brazil on Nov. 18. Lula's government is committed to completing the Angra-3 plant, and is selecting sites for four more reactors.

The country's nuclear lobby is also organizing. On Nov. 24, a congressional hearing on Brazil's nuclear program announced the creation of a "Multiparty Parliamentary Committee in Defense of Brazil's Nuclear Program." Both government and private-sector entities tied to the nuclear industry have organized seminars on the benefits of nuclear energy development for both engineering and industry.

Aside from gearing up its own nuclear industry, Argentina is playing a crucial role in supplying Brazil with molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), the medical isotope previously supplied by Canada's National Universal Reactor (NRU) at Chalk River, which was shut down in May of this year. During their meeting, Presidents Lula and Fernández de Kirchner signed an agreement by which Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) will increase its production of Mo-99 in order to supply Brazil with 150 Ci (curies) weekly, allowing Brazil to cover more than a third of its internal demand.

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