Remember all the misguided hype about Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, being the Trump of Argentina?
Well a few days ago they inked a deal to buy F-16s. Moving toward Western weapons will promote ties for decades to come.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/argentina-buys-24-f-16-jets-air-force-president-says-2024-04-16/
Now the president wants to join NATO as a global partner. That’s not a full member of the alliance, of course, since he’s in South America, but it signifies increased security cooperation and support with the US.
Other NATO global partners are Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, and Japan.
A NATO global partner is a completely different thing. They don’t get a vote. There’s no mutual defense Article 5.
It means they’re a partner. They will work with NATO. With today’s world and the ties between Russia, Iran, and China, getting Argentina on our team is pretty smart and maybe even necessary.
China has been courting them for years and this may help put a stop to that. Argentina has vast lithium deposits that are geopolitically important in the future world, and it can’t hurt to add a strategic partner in South America.
China’s been courting everyone.
They really have. And they’ve invested a lot of money into other countries with Belt & Road, and have a lot of leverage over them due to loans, and have a lot of access to their infrastructure, etc. It’s worrying how far the US has let it go.
That’s why it’s REALLY important to shore up our Mexico/Central America problems, and start bringing South America into the fold.
On the flip side, the US has done a really good job in Asia with AUKUS (and soon maybe JAUKUS).
