Beijing (AsiaNews) - Leaders from all over the world are mourning the death of Margaret Thatcher, the first (and only) woman to hold the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who died yesterday following a stroke. The "Iron Lady", so named for her firm and often unpopular policies in managing British politics, inside and outside of the island for 11 years, died aged 87. As Thatcher desired, her funeral will be solemn but not a State memorial, and will be held in the Cathedral of St. Paul.
Many messages of condolence arrived in the early hours following her death.
Yesterday evening, Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolence to the current
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in which he expressed "condolences on
the news of the death of Baroness Margaret Thatcher." The message signed
by the secretary of state recalls "with
appreciation the Christian values which underpinned her commitment to public
service and to the promotion of freedom among the family of nations. Entrusting
her soul to the mercy of God, and assuring her family and the British people of
a remembrance in his prayers, the Holy Father invokes upon all whose lives she
touched God's abundant blessings.. "
Barack Obama, U.S. president, recalled "a great friend" of the United
States. Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Laureate and last General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1991, called the
Thatcher "a great politician and a brilliant individual." Ban
Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations has recognized Thatcher's "pioneering
stature", the first woman ever elected to the office of prime minister of
her country, Remembering "a strong leader, engaged in British political
life as well as on an international level. "
Like in the sweeping- and controversial - liberalization approved in the United
Kingdom, Thatcher has left her mark in foreign policy. Her role in the 1982 war
against Argentina over the Malvinas islands - called Falklands by the British -
made her widely unpopular in Latin America. As proven by the many vitriolic
comments from the people of Argentina, for whom Thatcher "was a hateful
person, that waged a war to win elections" and who "will not be
remembered for her contribution to peace."
As prime minister, on 19 December 1984, she signed the Sino-British Joint
Declaration, which ratified the return (handover) of Hong Kong - then a British
colony - to China, as of July 1, 1997. In her memoirs in 1993, the Thatcher said
she was "depressed" about having to give up the city, where she
returned in 1997 for the official handover celebrations.