Clinton Defends Rising Military Ties New Alliance With Argentina, Warplane Sales Worry Critics
President Clinton defended deepening U.S. military ties in Latin America, telling a vast television audience Thursday that a new military alliance with Argentina and the sale of warplanes to Chile need not escalate tension.
Clinton tried to allay the concern over the dramatic expansion of military relations during an hour-long televised question-and-answer session with young leaders in Argentina. The program reached an estimated 500 million people.
Clinton said Thursday he was making Argentina a “major non-NATO military ally,” putting the South American nation on part with Israel, Japan and South Korea. He said the designation was a reward for Argentina’s “truly extraordinary efforts” to provide troops to 16 international peacekeeping operations since 1990.
“There’s hardly a country in the world that has anything approaching the record of the Argentine military in being willing to stand up for the cause of peace,” Clinton said. “We believe that we should be sending a signal that this is a policy that other countries should follow.”
The designation showcases Argentina’s turnabout from a military-dictatorship that invaded the nearby British-controlled Falkland Islands in 1982 to a democratic nation that has troops serving side-by-side with British forces on U.N. missions in Cyprus.
Chile and Brazil have expressed concern over the special status for Argentina. U.S. officials said that other Latin nations could qualify for such alliance status in the future.
“There is nothing here designed to upset the military balance in South America,” Clinton insisted. “We want Argentina to be working with Chile, to be working with Brazil.”
Clinton fielded 18 questions during a session that recalled his reliance on free-wheeling “town meetings” during his 1992 presidential campaign.
Clinton, visiting the last of three nations on a week-long tour of Latin America, spoke on the program only hours after informing President Carols Menem of Argentina that he had formally notified Congress of his intention to designate the nation of 35 million as the closest U.S. military ally in South America.
Under the preferential status, Argentina can gain easier access to surplus U.S. weapons, the chance to bid on some Pentagon contracts and low-interest financing for some U.S. weapons purchases.
In turn, the Pentagon potentially gains the right to station U.S. war materiel on Argentine soil.
Congress has 30 days to object to the designation.
Clinton ended a 20-year ban on U.S. arms sales to Latin America on Aug. 1. That cleared the way for Chile to buy 24 F-16 Falcon fighters for an estimated $400 million.
Clinton defended his decision to allow Chile to buy U.S. warplanes, saying the nation ought to have the same access to sophisticated U.S. weaponry as France or Germany.