$Unique_ID{COW00172} $Pretitle{273} $Title{Argentina Chapter 4F. Foreign Relations} $Subtitle{} $Author{Craig H. Robinson} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{states united argentina countries country islands britain relations military treaty} $Date{1987} $Log{Ronald Reagan*0017201.scf Buenos Aires*0017202.scf } Country: Argentina Book: Argentina, A Country Study Author: Craig H. Robinson Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1987 Chapter 4F. Foreign Relations Foreign policy was the responsibility of the president, who was advised by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Worship. Under civilian presidents, foreign policy was generally made by the president, his or her close personal advisers, the career staff of the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Worship, and the armed forces. Some of the leaders of the major business associations, intellectuals, executives of the major foreign investors in the country, foreign military advisers, and representatives of foreign and international aid agencies often participated in the process. The circle of participants was narrower under military presidents, the armed forces typically playing a greater role than the career foreign service. History and General Principles Historically, the country was most concerned with sovereignty, security, international recognition, and economic development in its foreign relations. Argentina's close economic relationship with Britain from independence until World War I led many to consider the country a Spanish-speaking appendage of the British Empire. The British built the railroads and utilities, introduced modern breeding techniques to the cattle industry, and ran the international trading system. The ruling elites represented those who supplied the beef, wool, and grains to the British companies. Thus, the country supported British investors and British interests in the region, eschewing identification with the rest of Latin America. The British influence, together with the large number of European immigrants, led to a general orientation toward Europe and a relative detachment from Western Hemispheric affairs, aside from border tensions with Chile and a traditional rivalry with Brazil. When the United States began to advance its economic and diplomatic sphere southward by means of the Pan American Union in 1889, Argentina turned its attention to the rest of South America, albeit in a limited way. It opposed United States attempts to forge hemispheric solidarity, arguing that although Central America and the Caribbean fell within the United States sphere of influence, South America should maintain its autonomy. Pursuing this policy, the country successfully blocked an attempt by the United States to create a hemispheric peacekeeping mechanism at the 1933 Montevideo Conference of the Pan American Union. At the same time, however, investors from the United States had successfully established a strong position in the country's economy during World War I. With the rise of nationalism in the late 1930s, the country was divided in its foreign policy emphases. Conservative governments emphasized the country's traditional ties to Britain, while the military governments of the early 1940s sought to limit British influence and advocated closer ties with Germany. During World War II the country maintained its neutrality, shipping beef and grain to Britain while encouraging German investments in industry. The United States opposed this position and pressured the country to declare war on Germany by giving substantial military assistance to Brazil. In 1945, with the results of the war clear, the country declared war on Germany and Japan "in order to achieve acceptance in an Allied World." During World War II the country joined the Inter-American System after signing the Act of Chapultepec in April 1945. It joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1948, signed the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty), and participated in the Inter-American Defense Board. At the same time, however, the country developed the concept of a so-called Third Position in international affairs, independent of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The policy led to closer ties with Latin America, the maintenance of a more distant, and at times hostile, attitude toward the United States, and the development of cooperative relations with other countries in Asia and Africa. This policy, with varying degrees of emphasis, was continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s. At the same time, however, the country continued to emphasize its traditional cultural, political, and economic links with Western Europe. Under the military governments of the late 1960s and the 1970s, the country tried to project its power on a broader scale than before. Those governments, tending to view the international system in terms of a basic conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, sought to ally the country more closely with the United States and at the same time establish regional hegemony in the Southern Cone and in the South Atlantic area. Difficult relations with the United States during the late 1970s impeded the pursuit of this project, but after their improvement in 1980, the country participated in a military coup in Bolivia, sent military advisers to assist the government of El Salvador and antigovernment guerrillas operating against the government of Nicaragua, entered into informal discussions with the United States concerning the possible location of a United States military base in Argentina, and sought the formation of a South Atlantic Treaty Organization to join Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa in a military alliance with the United States. At the same time, however, the country developed a strong commercial relationship with the Soviet Union. The South Atlantic War of 1982 seriously disrupted the country's foreign relations, effectively ending its traditional ties with Britain but also calling into question its relationship with the United States and its participation in the Inter-American System. To many Argentines, the role played by the United States in the war made it impossible to rely on the Rio Treaty as the primary mechanism for external defense. This also contributed to a growing climate of opinion that the country's interests would be better served by aligning itself with the developing countries, particularly on economic issues. The foreign policy of the Alfonsin government reflected these concerns. It sought to forge stronger ties with the Nonaligned Movement and tried to negotiate a common policy on international debt payments with the other countries of Latin America. In addition, it ended the country's military involvement in Central America and distanced itself from United States policy in the area. It also tried to improve its relations with several West European countries, notably with Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and maintained its commercial relations with the Soviet Union. Finally, it sought to resolve the long-standing territorial dispute with Chile over the Beagle Channel and to resolve peacefully the country's dispute with Britain over the islands of the South Atlantic. Relations with Britain In mid-1985 the fundamental issue between the country and Britain remained the status of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands as well as the other islands in the South Atlantic (South Georgia/Georgia del Sur Island, South Sandwich/Sandwich del Sur Islands, South Orkney/Orcadas del Sur Islands, and South Shetland/Shetland del Sur Islands). Argentina considered these islands to be part of the country, together with a large portion of Antarctica. The Antarctic claim came under the provisions of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty (see Relations with Other Countries, this ch.). The British occupation of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, however, was viewed as a case of colonial occupation. The Argentine claim was based on the "discovery" of the islands in 1504 by the Florentine navigator, Amerigo Vespucci. France claimed sovereignty in the seventeenth century by virtue of occupation but ceded its rights to Spain. Britain, which based its claim on the "discovery" of the islands in 1592 by Captain John Davis, agreed with Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht not to establish colonies in the southern half of the Western Hemisphere in return for Spain's agreement not to establish colonies in the northern half. Spain's claim passed to Argentina upon the latter's independence in 1816. Argentine settlements were established and a governor appointed in 1820 (see The South Atlantic War and Its Aftermath, ch. 1). In 1829 Argentine authorities on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands seized the United States whaling vessel Harriet for legal infractions. The United States retaliated by dispatching the U.S.S. Lexington to destroy the Argentine settlements in 1831, and in 1833 the United States consulate in Buenos Aires urged Britain to seize the islands and deport the Argentine inhabitants. In 1985 Argentina maintained that the British occupation of 1833 was illegal under 1946 international law. Britain maintained that its occupation had been legal under prevailing international law and was not subject to subsequent alterations of the law. In 1965, at Argentina's request, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution urging the two countries to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the sovereignty question. Secret negotiations, which began the following year, led to the so-called Agreed Position in 1967 under which Britain acceded to the Argentine claim in principle. Domestic politics in Britain, however, prevented any further progress. Discussions began again in 1970, leading to the 1971 Buenos Aires Declaration, under which regular sea and air communications between the Argentine mainland and the islands were established, and postal, cable, and telephone connections were improved. Argentina also agreed to admit the islanders to schools and hospitals in Argentina. Britain then proposed a "lease-back" arrangement, under which Argentina would be granted formal sovereignty, although Britain would maintain administrative control until the islanders could adjust to eventual Argentine governance. The islanders refused to accept this arrangement, and the proposal was defeated in the British Parliament. In December 1973 the UN General Assembly expressed its concern at the slow pace of the negotiations and again urged the two countries to resolve what it described as the "colonial situation." The following year, further agreements on the transportation of goods between the island and the mainland were reached, and Argentina agreed to supply the islands with fuel. In February 1976, however, a shooting incident between the Argentine destroyer Almirante Storni and the British naval vessel Shackleton about 130 kilometers from the islands led both countries to recall their ambassadors until November 1979. New negotiations began in February 1977, with meetings in Rome, New York, Lima, and Geneva throughout 1978 and 1979. Little progress was made, however. In January 1981 the islanders' legislative council rejected the "lease-back scheme" and declared its preference for freezing the dispute for another 25 years. In March 1982 Argentina protested the slow rate of progress in the negotiations and urged monthly meetings with a fixed agenda between the two countries, alluding to possible unilateral action if Britain did not respond. In early April an Argentine force occupied the Falkland/Malvinas, South Georgia/Georgia del Sur, and South Sandwich/Sandwich del Sur islands. The islands were formally constituted as the country's twenty-third province, and a governor was appointed. Britain protested the Argentine action, taking its case to the UN Security Council, where it obtained Resolution 502, which called for an Argentine withdrawal and the cessation of hostilities. Britain then sought and received the imposition of economic sanctions against Argentina by the Commonwealth of Nations and the European Economic Community (EEC) and dispatched an invasion force to reoccupy the islands. Argentina sought the support of the OAS, but that organization adopted only a "resolution of concern" on April 13, offering its "friendly cooperation in the search for a peaceful settlement." After British forces appeared in the waters surrounding the islands, Argentina invoked the Rio Treaty, citing Article 3, which established that "an armed attack by any State against an American State shall be considered an attack against all American States," and requested the imposition of sanctions against Britain. Over strong objections by the United States, the foreign ministers of the 21 signatories of the Rio Treaty met in late April but merely adopted a resolution supporting the Argentine claim to sovereignty over the islands and deploring the sanctions that had been imposed against Argentina by the EEC at Britain's request. The resolution did not, however, invoke any sanctions against Britain. It called for fulfillment of Resolution 502, urged a truce between the combatants, and called on Britain to withdraw its forces. Following the official end of United States neutrality in the conflict on April 30, both UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar and President Fernando Belaunde Terry of Peru tried to mediate the dispute. Although both sides made considerable concessions, neither effort was able to mediate the fundamental dispute over sovereignty. Argentina required prior assurances of its ultimate sovereignty over the islands before entering into new negotiations with Britain, and Britain insisted that the outcome of any future negotiations should not be "prejudged." On May 21, British forces landed in the islands (see The South Atlantic War, ch. 5). After the British reoccupation of the islands, the dispute returned to the diplomatic level. Despite the simultaneous lifting of financial sanctions by the two countries in September 1982, no new negotiations were begun. In November 1982 the UN General Assembly urged resumption of negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Argentina accepted the offer of the UN secretary general to arrange discussions, but Britain responded that it would not enter into negotiations until Argentina issued a formal declaration ceasing hostilities. Furthermore, it stated that the question of sovereignty was "nonnegotiable." In November 1983 the General Assembly passed a second resolution calling for negotiations over sovereignty. Argentina protested what it described as a British "military buildup" on the islands. In December 1983 Alfonsin ruled out the renewed use of force over the islands but also refused to unilaterally issue a formal cessation of hostilities unless Britain agreed to discuss sovereignty. Privately, Argentina and Britain exchanged notes throughout late 1983 and 1984. Argentina urged Britain to end its fortification of the islands, to lift its 200-nautical-mile exclusion zone around the islands, and to return to the prewar sovereignty negotiations. Britain, for its part, dropped its insistence on a formal cessation of hostilities but maintained its refusal to discuss sovereignty. In July 1984 representatives of the two countries met in Bern, Switzerland, under the offices of the Swiss and the Brazilians to discuss the issues between them. The discussions, however, quickly broke down over the question of whether sovereignty would be discussed. In mid-1985 Britain lifted its restrictions on trade with Argentina; Argentina, however, continued to insist on negotiations over sovereignty. Relations with the United States Although relations with the United States were often difficult, the country was considered an ally of the United States. Although publicly asserting its independence, the country supported most United States regional and global policies throughout the 1960s, including the economic blockade of Cuba and the 1965 military intervention in the Dominican Republic. The United States supplied Argentina with about US$247 million in grants, credits, and other forms of military aid between 1950 and 1979, when about 4,017 Argentine military personnel were trained in the United States. There were, however, serious disagreements between the two countries on a number of issues, particularly during the late 1970s. The United States was particularly concerned about Argentina's nuclear research program. It began independent research and the production of reactors and some fuel elements in the early 1950s. During the first 20 years of the program, the United States and other countries supplied Argentina with enriched uranium on a commercial basis. However, when the country signed but did not ratify the 1967 Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Tlatelolco Treaty) and refused to sign the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the United States became increasingly concerned. The latter treaty required its signatories to establish safeguards in conjunction with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Argentina maintained that, although it supported the goals of the two treaties and accepted a variety of international safeguards on its research, it could not accept IAEA's prohibition on the use of peaceful nuclear explosions in that research. The country also objected that the Tlatelolco Treaty did not provide sufficient safeguards to protect its nuclear technology trade secrets. In 1978 the United States halted sales of enriched uranium to Argentina and urged other countries to do the same. Argentina then embarked on a research program designed to establish a complete nuclear fuel cycle. The United States then moved to block the transfer of nuclear technology to the country, insisting that it ratify the Tlatelolco Treaty, agree with the IAEA on a number of safeguards, and agree not to reprocess nuclear fuel without international supervision. Argentina then objected that both the Tlatelolco Treaty and the NPT were attempts by the nuclear powers to prevent the country from developing its own nuclear industries by keeping it dependent on the United States for essential technology. Argentina announced in November 1983 that it had developed its own uranium enrichment technology (see Nuclear Development and Capabilities, ch. 5). In November 1984, however, the country signed an agreement with Greece, India, Mexico, Tanzania, and Sweden in support of world nuclear disarmament. The agreement pledged the signatories to oppose the arms race in international forums. At the same time, Argentina apparently continued its insistence on its right to detonate peaceful nuclear explosions (see Constitutional Provisions and Treaty Obligations, ch. 5). Relations with the United States reached a low point in 1977 and 1978. Criticizing human rights violations in Argentina, the United States restricted arms sales to the country, voted against loans to Argentina from international aid agencies, and strongly criticized it in the OAS and the UN. Rather than accept evaluation of its human rights situation by the United States Department of State and the subsequent discussion of those evaluations in the United States Congress, Argentina terminated its military assistance program with the United States. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Argentina refused to join the United States in halting grain sales to the Soviet Union. Relations improved in late 1979 and 1980, however, as a result of Argentina's improved human rights record, the importation by Argentina in 1979 of US$2 billion of United States goods, and the release by the United States of about US$980 million in loans in 1980. Relations between the two countries improved further after Galtieri became president in 1981. In a series of meetings between officials of the two governments in late 1981 and early 1982, they discussed the role of Argentina forces in Central America, the possible location of a United States military installation in Patagonia, the possible deployment of Argentine troops as part of the peacekeeping force in the Sinai desert envisaged in the Camp David Agreements, and the country's tense relations with Chile. The United States scheduled some US$500 million in military aid for 1983. This improvement in relations ended with the country's attempt to recover the Falkland/Malvinas Islands by armed force. Although the United States was officially neutral in the dispute and United States Secretary of State Alexander Haig tried to mediate between Argentina and Britain, press reports in the United States to the effect that the United States was, in fact, assisting Britain in its war effort caused great concern in Argentina. When the United States opposed Argentina's invocation of the Rio Treaty and then officially declared its support for Britain on April 30, 1982, many in Argentina felt the United States had betrayed them. A poll taken in Buenos Aires in June 1982 indicated that although some 30 percent of the respondents considered British prime minister Margaret Thatcher the "most hated" person in the world, some 55 percent reserved that distinction for President Ronald Reagan of the United States. The country ended its military involvement in Central America, threatened to withdraw its representatives from the Inter-American Defense Board, and sought to improve its relations with Cuba, Nicaragua, and a number of countries in the Nonaligned Movement. Relations did not improve markedly upon the election of Alfonsin. Alfonsin was particularly angry about what he perceived as the United States preference for the PJ's candidate in the elections, Italo Luder. He was also reportedly upset by a visit of United States military officials while he was president elect, during which they met with Argentine officers but failed to pay him a courtesy call. Reportedly he felt that such direct military contact between the two countries complicated his efforts to achieve civilian control over the military. The major issue between the two countries during the first 18 months of Alfonsin's presidency, however, concerned the country's international debt. In June 1984 representatives of 11 Latin American countries, including Argentina, met in Cartagena, Colombia, to discuss common problems concerning their international debts. They called for an "adequate repayment and grace period," as well as a "reduction of interest rates, margins, commissions and other financial charges." In September 1984 the so-called Cartagena Consensus countries met again, at Alfonsin's invitation, in Mar del Plata. They issued a formal call for multilateral talks with industrialized countries concerning the international debt problems. In response, the United States Department of Treasury issued a statement that the United States opposed such a meeting, indicating its preference that any talks be conducted within established forums such as the UN, the World Bank (see Glossary), and the IMF. Arguing that United States fiscal policy contributed to high interest rates, however, Alfonsin indicated that the United States government should take steps to ease his country's debt burden. In particular, he sought the assistance of the United States in his attempt to get IMF agreement to continue his policy of economic reactivation. The United States, however, continued its insistence that the country reach an accommodation directly with the IMF. In June 1985 the country began a new economic stabilization plan designed to halt its growing inflation rate. This policy was supported by the United States, which joined 11 other countries in supplying a bridge loan to help cover the country's external payments until IMF disbursements began. Relations with Other Countries In 1985 the country was continuing a trend toward improved relations with a number of countries with which it had had serious disagreements in the past. In particular, Argentina moved to settle its dispute with Chile over the Beagle Channel, continued its growing trade relationship with the Soviet Union, and moved to strengthen its ties with several countries in Western Europe. Latin American Countries The pattern of relations with the other countries of the region shifted markedly as the result of the South Atlantic War. The Galtieri government had sent military advisers to assist the government of El Salvador in its battle with insurgents and also sent economic and technical aid to antigovernment guerillas fighting against Nicaragua (see Operational Command, Deployment, and Equipment, ch. 5). This effort ended after the United States ended its official neutrality in the South Atlantic War. The Alfonsin government continued this policy of disengagement in Central America, although it did extend a US$45 million line of credit for industrial goods to Nicaragua and offered an additional US$2.5 million in food and medical aid. It also supported the efforts of the Contadora Group to mediate conflicts in the region and refused to support the effort by the United States to organize an economic boycott of Nicaragua in 1984. The country also extended a US$600 million line of credit to Cuba in 1984 and signed further agreements to export industrial machinery to Cuba in 1985. The Alfonsin government continued the development of closer relations with Brazil begun by the military governments in the late 1970s. In 1980 the two countries signed a number of agreements covering nuclear cooperation, joint exploitation of hydroelectric resources, a permanent mechanism for political consultation, interconnection of national electrical grids, establishment of common veterinary regulations, coordination of grain exports, and scientific and technical cooperation. In 1982 Argentina unsuccessfully tried to interest Brazil in playing a more active role in the region, particularly by joining an anticommunist alliance in Central America and by joining to form a South Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Alfonsin government continued to make overtures to Brazil, giving particular emphasis to the development of a joint effort in nuclear power research. In March 1985 the two countries began discussing an agreement under which they would each open their nuclear facilities to inspection by the other. The Alfonsin government also concluded a treaty with Chile under which it accepted Chilean sovereignty over three small islands in the Beagle Channel. The two countries had disputed control of the islands for years. Both countries were concerned primarily with the impact that control of the islands would have on their competing claims to territory in Antarctica. A 1977 arbitration award, drafted by five members on the International Court of Justice and confirmed by the British crown, awarded the islands to Chile, but Argentina rejected the award, citing technical irregularities in the court's decision. This rejection led to a strong Chilean reaction, and troops were mobilized by both countries. In December 1978 the two countries agreed to accept papal mediation of the dispute. Little progress was made in the dispute until late 1983, when Alfonsin made a settlement with Chile a high priority. In January 1984 the two countries signed a "Declaration of Peace and Friendship" under Vatican sponsorship and later in the year initialed a treaty that awarded the islands to Chile but limited Chilean access to the Atlantic and specifically separated the two countries' claims in Antarctica from the status of the Beagle Channel islands. In November 1984 about 73 percent of the electorate approved the treaty in an unprecedented referendum. The Senate ratified it in early 1985, thus settling the dispute (see fig. 4). Soviet Union Argentina has long maintained an economic relationship with the Soviet Union, exporting grain and meat to that country and importing limited quantities of industrial goods. During the early 1970s the country took a greater interest in this trade, both as a means of pursuing a foreign policy more independent of the United States and as a source of needed hard currency. Later, the Soviet Union became a limited source of nuclear technology unobtainable from the United States. The relationship deepened as the Soviet Union refrained from criticizing the government's human rights record during the late 1970s, and in return Argentina refused to cut off its exports following the 19709 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In 1981 the two countries signed a five-year trade agreement by which Argentina supplied grain and meat to the Soviet Union. Further contracts were signed in 1982 covering various services and nuclear supplies. Under these contracts Argentina became one of the major suppliers of grain to the Soviet Union. The trade balance between them was markedly in favor of Argentina, balancing to a great extent its negative trade balance with the United States and Western Europe. The Soviets, however, urged the country to import more from the Soviet Union in order to achieve greater balance in the relationship. The Argentines resisted doing this, causing some difficulties in renegotiating a new trade agreement in 1985. * * * The best English-language studies of Argentina politics available in mid-1985 were Gary W. Wynia's Argentina in the Postwar Era and Lars Schoultz' The Populist Challenge. Neither, however, covered developments after 1982. The articles on Argentina and on the South Atlantic War published in Latin America and Carribean Contemporary Record, edited by Jack W. Hopkins, provided useful information on political and economic events, as did the articles by Wynia on Argentina published in Current History. Information on contemporary events was available in the Latin America Weekly Report and Latin America Regional Reports: Southern Cone, both published by Latin American Newsletters of London, and in various issues of the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Argentine newspapers La Nacion, the Clarin, and the Buenos Aires Herald. A useful compendium of English-language newspaper articles on Argentina was the Information Service on Latin America. The best overview of Argentina's foreign relations was Dennis R. Gordon's "Argentina's Foreign Policies in the Post-Malvinas Era" in The Dynamics of Latin American Foreign Policies. (For further information and complete citations, see Bibliography.) [See Ronald Reagan: Top: Presidents Ronald Reagan and Raul Alfonsin meeting at White House during President Alfonsin's visit to the United States in 1985. Courtesy The White House/Jack Kightlinger. Bottom: Casa Rosada, the presidential palace. Courtesy Organization of American States.] [See Buenos Aires: Top: Buenos Aires. Bottom: Congress Building. Photos courtesy Organization of American States.]