The Argentine government
"is making a pact with the devil that could have biblical consequences,"
warned a Republican congresswoman from the United States, denouncing the links between the Casa Rosada and China.
It was during a fiery speech that representative María Elvira Salazar,
president of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, delivered at a legislative hearing on Tuesday
, who dedicated a specific part to Argentines.
Because of her position on this commission, Salazar is an influential voice for the United States in the region.
“I am going to say it in Spanish so that it is very clear to my Argentine friends.
Its
president and her president are making a pact with the devil that could have consequences of biblical proportions
,” Salazar said, referring to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Alberto Fernández.
And he added: "The
United States is not going to sit idly by
because you cannot have an ally that manufactures and exports Chinese military aircraft, and sells them to the neighbors."
"If they decide to build a Chinese aircraft factory, it's a very bad idea for them, and for everything that has to do with the relationship with the US," he said.
“There are two worlds: the free world and the world of slaves. I hope that the Argentines stay in the free world, ”he said.
Argentina included in its 2022 budget an item of US$ 664 million to buy 12 JF-17 Thunder-Block III supersonic aircraft, of Chinese origin, but the purchase did not materialize.
At the end of last year, President Fernández declared that the country "has to dedicate its resources to more important things than the purchase of military aircraft today."
The 61-year-old congresswoman, who is of Cuban origin and represents Florida, is a former journalist for CNN en Español, Telemundo and Univisión and usually addresses issues related to the region, especially in relation to immigration and against the administrations of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Salazar has been denouncing China's ties with our country and the possibility of the government buying Chinese JF-17 combat planes and also manufacturing them in Argentina in industries that would be built with capital from the Asian country.
"This policy follows the trend of similar agreements that the Chinese made with Venezuela and Bolivia," the congresswoman said on her website.
He also criticized the Democratic government of Joe Biden.
He said it is "worrying" that members of the State Department have not "
even answered the most basic questions about Chinese penetration in Latin America."
He also promised to ensure that Latin America "continues to be part of the free world," in his role as head of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.
Salazar also highlighted something that particularly worries the United States: he said that Argentina allowed China
"total control of the operations of a space station,
which is approximately 400 soccer fields in size and is located in the middle of the Patagonian desert," adding that the Government does not monitor the actual activities of the base.
This station, built in Neuquén, is a permanent target of suspicion from the United States and is an issue that US officials and congressmen often raise with the government because they believe that it could have surveillance and non-scientific functions.
US congressmen, especially Republicans,
have been criticizing Chinese influence in Argentina.
Last year, Rep.
Matt Gaetz,
a supporter of former President Donald Trump, spoke after Alberto Fernández's visit to China.
“As the Joe Biden administration, the media and many members of Congress beat the war drums for Ukraine, there is a much more significant threat to our nation accelerating rapidly close to home in Argentina.”
Also then, Republican Senator
Marco Rubio
and Democrat
Bob Menéndez
called for increased security cooperation with the region to counter the "destabilizing" influence of China and Russia in the region, with a bill in which they warned that the " totalitarian regimes in Latin America and the activities of China and Russia in the region pose a risk to the national security of the United States” and called for “activities to counter the malign influence of state actors and transnational criminal organizations.”
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