Argentina Strengthens Military Partnership with USA

Argentine President Javier Milei strengthens “strategic” alliance with Washington. Milei met in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, with US Southern Command Commander-in-Chief Laura Richardson. “The best way to protect our sovereignty in a globalized world, but with growing conflicts, is to strengthen our strategic alliance with the United States,” commented Milei, adding: “Argentines as a people have an affinity with the United States, and we hope to establish a special relationship. We both belong to the Western tradition, with a widespread culture, political history, and way of life in society. A tradition based on the ideas of liberty, private property, and life that were the flag of the founding fathers of both nations when they drafted their first constitutions.”

A new military base will be built right near Ushuaia and will be integrated with the US Army, becoming “a port of access for our countries to the white continent and a concrete logistical support for the scientific development of the various international Antarctic programs.” The Ushuaia base will be the last stop for refueling and repairs before arriving in Antarctica and will also be able to service commercial ships.

This meeting strengthens military cooperation between Argentina and the United States; Buenos Aires recently purchased 24 F-16 fighter jets from Denmark through Washington’, which also donated a Hercules transport plane (worth about $30 million) to the Argentine navy. Among US goals in this strengthened partnership is the US desire to counter China’s growing commercial and military importance on the continent, as well as to give the USA a preferential route to Argentina’s mineral resources.