The 2011 Argentina–United States diplomatic crisis was caused by the temporary seizure of materials from a US military plane, followed by claims that the US may have been trying to smuggle weapons and drugs into the country.
The event
Before the scandal, Argentina and the United States had made an agreement, allowing the US to train members of the
Federal Police of Argentina and bring the required materials for doing so. However, when the American
Boeing C-17 arrived in Argentina, it was subjected to a detailed search, led by the Argentine Minister of Foreign Relations,
Héctor Timerman
Héctor Marcos Timerman (16 December 1953 – 30 December 2018) was an Argentine journalist, politician, human rights activist and diplomat. He served as his country's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2015, during the presidency of Cristi ...
, and the Minister of Transport,
Juan Pablo Schiavi, and with officials from the airport police, national customs and the
AFIP.
Timerman opened a box with pliers, and seized it. He claimed that the flight was attempting to smuggle undeclared weapons and drugs.
[Mendelevich, p. 31] The seized materials included heavy guns, materials to intercept phone calls, and drugs. A member of the Federal Police explained to the ''
Clarín'' newspaper that those things are standard tools in
counter-terrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...
operations.
The C-17 returned to the United States, without the seized materials.
Arturo Valenzuela
Arturo A. Valenzuela (born 23 January 1944) is a Chilean-American academic who was the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs from November 5, 2009, until August 2011. His confirmation had been blocked by Senat ...
, US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, asked Timerman for the reasons to do that with a mission which had been already arranged.
US President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
requested that the contents of the box should be returned to the US, and wondered why the national minister of foreign relations would personally lead the search and seizure.
A judiciary case investigated the whole operation, and did not find any crime.
[Mendelevich, p. 32] The crisis led the US to reduce the number of joint military activities with Argentina.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:2011 Argentina-United States diplomatic crisis
Argentina–United States relations
2011 in Argentina
2011 in international relations
Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Kirchnerism