Argentina and the United States have maintained bilateral relations since the United States formally recognized the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the predecessor to Argentina, on January 27, 1823.
Relations were severely strained in the era of World War II, when Argentina refused to declare war on Nazi Germany, and became the only Latin American nation not to receive American aid. Relations continued to be difficult when the Perons were in power. Relations were strained in 1982 after the US supported the United Kingdom against Argentina. Since 1998, Argentina has been a major non-NATO ally, partly owing to Argentina's assistance to the United States in the Gulf War (known as Operativo Alfil). Relations have been strained at times over the past few years, especially during the Cristina Fernández de Kirchner administration, but they improved during the presidency of Mauricio Macri (2015–2019) and dramatically improved during the presidency of Javier Milei (2023–present).
History After Argentina became independent from Spanish rule, the United States formally recognized the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the legal predecessor to Argentina, on January 27, 1823. The bilateral relations have seesawed over the last century and a half between periods of greater cooperation and periods of tension over ideology and finance. There has never been a threat of war.Joseph S. Tulchin, Argentina and the United States: A Conflicted Relationship (1990)
Argentine leaders were disappointed when the American government refused to invoke the Monroe Doctrine during instances such as the British establishment of a colony on the Falkland Islands, or during the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata.
In 1833, the US Navy shelled the Falkland Islands, at the time under Argentine control, in retaliation for the seizing of American ships fishing in Argentine waters. The new constitution of 1853 was based in part on the American Constitution. In 1853, a commercial treaty was concluded between the two nations.Bruce W. Jentleson and Thomas G. Paterson, eds. Encyclopedia of US foreign relations. (1997) 1:88-90.
1870–1930
Argentina was closely linked to the British economy in the late 19th century; and as such there was minimal contact with the United States. When the United States began promoting the Pan American Union, some Argentines were suspicious that it was indeed a device to lure the country into the US economic orbit, but most businessmen responded favorably and bilateral trade grew briskly after the United States and did care of duties on Argentine wool in 1893.
Relations soured when Argentina refused to join the Allies in the First World War. Argentina had large British and German populations and both countries had made large-scale investments in Argentina. However, as a prosperous neutral it greatly expanded trade with the United States during the war and exported meat, grain and wool to the Allies particularly to Britain, providing generous loans and becoming a net creditor to the Allied side, a policy known as "benevolent neutrality".
1940s
Argentina's policy during the Second World War was marked by two distinct phases. During the early years of the war, Argentine President Roberto M. Ortiz sought to sell food and wool to Britain. He even proposed to US President Franklin Roosevelt for both countries to join the Allies together as non-belligerents in 1940. However his proposal was snubbed at the time, as Roosevelt was trying to get re-elected.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, US foreign policy worked to unite all of Latin America in a coalition against Germany, but Argentina's neutralist stance had hardened since the resignation of Ortiz who resigned because of poor health. The United States worked to pressure Argentina into the war against the wishes of Britain, which supported Argentine neutrality in an effort to maintain vital provisions of beef and wheat to the Allies that were safe from German U-boat attacks. Most of the beef and the wheat consumed in Britain came from Argentina.
US policy backfired after the military seized power in a coup in 1943. Relations grew worse, prompting the powerful US farm lobby to promote the economic and diplomatic isolation of Argentina and attempt to keep it out of the United Nations. The policy was reversed when Argentina became the last Latin American nation to declare war on Germany in March 1945. Argentina had hosted a fairly-organized pro-German element before the war that had been controlled by German ambassadors. It operated openly, unlike in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. HistoriansJürgen Müller, Nationalsozialismus in Lateinamerika: Die Auslandsorganisation der NSDAP in Argentinien, Brasilien, Chile und Mexiko, 1931–1945 (1997) 567pp. agree that the affinity between Argentina and Germany was greatly exaggerated.Randall B. Woods, "Hull and Argentina: Wilsonian Diplomacy in the Age of Roosevelt," Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (1974) 16#3 pp. 350–371 in JSTOR
The Argentine government remained neutral until the closing weeks of the war and after the war quietly tolerated and in some cases aided the entry of German scientists and some notable war criminals including Josef Mengele, Adolf Eichmann, Erich Priebke, Josef Schwammberger, and who were fleeing Europe through ratlines. The voyages of German submarines U-530 and U-977 to Argentina at the end of the war led to legends, apocryphal stories, and conspiracy theories that they had transported escaping Nazi leaders (such as Adolf Hitler) and/or Nazi gold to South America. Historians have shown there was little gold and probably only a few Nazis, but the myths lived on and helped to sour relations with the United States.Ronald C. Newton, The "Nazi Menace" in Argentina, 1931–1947 (Stanford U.P., 1992)Daniel Stahl, "Odesa und das 'Nazigold' in Südamerika: Mythen und ihre Bedeutungen' ["Odesa and "Nazi Gold" in South America: Myths and Their Meanings"] Jahrbuch fuer Geschichte Lateinamerikas (2011) Vol. 48, pp 333–360. When Juan Perón ran for president in 1945 and 1946, US Ambassador Spruille Braden attacked him with a "Blue Book on Argentina," but public opinion rallied behind Perón. Relations remained tense throughout the Perón years, as he held fascist sympathies, tried to remain neutral in the Cold War and continued to harbor Nazi war criminals. Washington blocked funds from international agencies and restricted trade and investment opportunities.Roger R. Trask, "Spruille Braden versus George Messersmith: World War II, the Cold War, and Argentine Policy, 1945-1947." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 26.1 (1984): 69-95. Meanwhile Peron championed Anti-Americanism across Latin America, and financed radical elements in other countries. He did not, however, support the USSR in the Cold War. Glenn J. Dorn, "‘Bruce Plan’ and Marshall Plan: The United States's Disguised Intervention against Peronism in Argentina, 1947–1950." International History Review 21.2 (1999): 331-351.
1955-1990s After Perón was ousted in 1955, relations improved dramatically. President Arturo Frondizi became the first Argentine president to visit the United States in 1959. Argentina provided support for the American Alliance for Progress, the American invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965, and the isolation of Cuba after 1960.Jentleson and Paterson, Encyclopedia of US foreign relations. (1997) 1:89.
By 1976, US human rights groups were denouncing the "Dirty War" waged against leftist dissidents by the repressive military regime in Argentina.Paul H. Lewis, Guerrillas and Generals: the ‘Dirty War’ in Argentina (Praeger, 2002)Thomas C. Wright, State Terrorism in Latin America: Chile, Argentina, and International Human Rights (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007) They demanded congressional control over foreign aid funding to regimes violating human rights. The US State Department saw Argentina as a bulwark of anticommunism in South America, and in early April 1976, the US Congress approved a request by the Ford administration, written and supported by Henry Kissinger, to grant $50,000,000 in security assistance to the junta.On 30th Anniversary of Argentine Coup: New Declassified Details on Repression and U.S. Support for Military Dictatorship. Gwu.edu. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
In 1977 and 1978, the United States sold more than $120,000,000 in spare military parts to Argentina, and in 1977, the Department of Defense granted $700,000 to train 217 Argentine military officers.Guest, 1990; pg. 166 By the mid-1970s, when détente with the Soviets softened anti-communism and President Jimmy Carter highlighted issues of human rights, US activists escalated their attacks and in 1978 secured a congressional cutoff of all US arms transfers to Argentina.William Michael Schmidli, "Human rights and the Cold War: the campaign to halt the Argentine 'dirty war'’", Cold war history (2012) 12#2 pp 345–365. online Argentina then turned largely to Israel for weapons sales.
American-Argentine relations improved dramatically under the Reagan administration, which asserted that the Carter administration had weakened US diplomatic relationships with Cold War allies in Argentina, and it reversed the previous administration's official condemnation of the junta's human rights practices. The re-establishment of diplomatic ties allowed for the CIA collaboration with the Argentine intelligence service in arming and training the Nicaraguan Contras against the Sandinista government. The 601 Intelligence Battalion, for example, trained Contras at Lepaterique base, in Honduras."Los secretos de la guerra sucia continental de la dictadura", Clarín, March 24, 2006 Argentina also provided security advisors, intelligence training and some material support to forces in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to suppress local rebel groups as part of a US-sponsored program, Operation Charly.
Argentine military and intelligence co-operation with the Reagan administration ended in 1982, when Argentina seized the British territory of the Falkland Islands in an attempt to quell domestic and economic unrest. The move was condemned by the US, which provided intelligence to the British government in its successful effort to regain control over the islands.
The US has a positive bilateral relationship with Argentina based on many common strategic interests, including non-proliferation, counternarcotics, counterterrorism, the fight against human trafficking, and issues of regional stability, as well as the strength of commercial ties. Argentina signed a Letter of Agreement with the US Department of State in 2004, opening the way for enhanced cooperation with the US on counternarcotics issues and enabling the US to begin providing financial assistance to the Argentine government for its counternarcotics efforts. In recognition of its contributions to international security and peacekeeping, the US government designated Argentina as a major non-NATO ally in January 1998.
21st century
The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Argentine Ministry of Defense hold an annual Bilateral Working Group Meeting, alternating between Argentina and Washington, DC. Also, both nations exchange information through alternating annual joint staff talks, military educational exchanges, and operational officer exchange billets. Argentina is a participant in the Three-Plus-One regional mechanism (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and the US), which focuses on the co-ordination of counterterrorism policies in the triborder region.
Although bilateral relations were strained after the US supported the UK on the Falklands Wars. Currently, the US holds a position of neutrality on the issue of the ownership of the Falkland Islands. It acknowledges the de facto British control of the Falklands but has no position on the sovereignty claim over the islands.