A crisis over the Falklands may be the only hope for Argentina's glamorous leader Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, suggests William Langley.

By William Langley | telegraph.co.uk

Late at night, as the long-suffering inhabitants of Buenos Aires ponder the painful inflation-proneness of the cost of their favoured bife de lomo, the clatter of stilettos echoes through the faded grandeur of the Casa Rosada, Argentina's presidential palace. A new crisis has descended upon the nation, but this time its glamorous leader, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, knows exactly who is to blame.

Away to the south, a giant British oil rig has arrived off the Falkland Islands, the isolated South Atlantic archipelago which Mrs Kirchner has described, in a characteristically fiery speech, as "an illegal colonial enclave". No one can yet say how much oil lies below the wild waters around the islands, but it is likely that considerable riches are at stake – not the least of which, for the 57-year-old Mrs Kirchner, is the chance of reviving her battered political standing.

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