Overview
Argentina is the second largest country in South America, and the most prosperous country in Latin America. Having survived a brutal dictatorship and economic crisis in recent years, the country is politically stable and growing economically again. It is one of the world’s leading agricultural producers, and has a strong manufacturing sector as well. Culturally, it is considered the most “European” country in South America, with a small population of native South Americans and many citizens descended from a large immigration from Europe.
Basic Information
Lay of the Land: Argentina is a wedge-shaped country occupying southeastern South America, bordered by Chile to the west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil, Uruguay, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and Chile and the Atlantic Ocean to the South. With a surface area of 1,078,757 square miles (approximately the size of the United States east of the Mississippi River), Argentina is the second largest country in South America and the eighth largest in the world. The central geographical feature of Argentina is the Pampa, where most of the population and all of the largest cities are located. A vast, treeless, grassy plain covering 293,000 square miles, the fertile Pampa is a key element in the country’s livestock and agricultural production. In the northeast lie the Chaco plain and the area known as Mesopotamia, a fruit and rice producing region. To the south is Patagonia, named after the Patagonian (“big feet”) Indians. It is a region of high mountains and thick forests, of snowcapped volcanoes and many small lakes. Known as Argentina’s Lake District, the area is home to a thriving tourist industry centered on the small alpine town of San Carlos de Bariloche. Although Argentina has a long coastline, it has few good natural harbors. The best one, located at the mouth of the Río de la Plata, is the capital of Buenos Aires, a large metropolitan area with a population of 13 million, or almost a third of all Argentines.
Population: 40.7 million
Religions: Catholic 70%, non-religious 16.2%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 1.5%, Jewish 0.8%, other 2.5%.
Ethnic Groups: white (mostly Italian and Spanish) 97%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry), Amerindian, or other non-white groups 3%
Languages: Spanish (official) 88.9%, Quecha (South Bolivian, Santiago del Estero) 2.5%, Mapudungun 0.3%, Wichí Lhamtés/“Mataco” language cluster (Güisnay, Nocten, Vejoz), Welsh 0.06%, Toba 0.05%, Guaraní (Mbyá, Western Argentine) 0.05%. There are 25 living languages in Argentina.
History
Although human habitation in Argentina dates to about 11,000 BC, pre-Columbian Argentina was sparsely populated. In 1480, the Inca of Peru established hegemony over northwest Argentina, while the Guaraní lived farther east and north east. The Quechua peoples dominated the north, and Patagonia was inhabited by the Tehuelches. Spanish navigator Juan Díaz de Solís visited the territory which is now Argentina in 1516, but it was not until 1580 that the Spanish established a permanent colony on the site of what would become Buenos Aires. Until 1776, Argentina was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, and thus was governed from Lima. This arrangement made Argentina a provincial backwater of Peru, so that population growth and economic development were slow. A war for self-governance began in 1810, followed by a declaration of independence on July 9, 1816. Although independent thereafter, Argentina did not stabilize as a single, unified country until 1861, as two separate states—the Republic of Buenos Aires and the Argentine Confederation—vied for dominance. In 1853, a constitution was ratified, and in 1861, Argentines achieved the final unification of their country.
From that time until the 1930s, Argentina developed economically into one of the world’s wealthiest nations. By 1929, Argentina had the world’s fourth highest per capita GDP. Like the U.S., Argentina experienced mass immigration. More than 3.6 million immigrants arrived between 1857 and 1940, most of them Italian and Spanish, but also including many French, Germans, Poles, Turks and Russian Jews, while another 3 million passed through as seasonal workers, often moving on to the United States or returning home. By 1914, one third of Argentina’s 8 million people had been born elsewhere. Despite this diversity, Argentina was ruled by an oligarchy of 300 families whose power was rooted in their control of the vast interior, until political reform in 1912 led to universal male suffrage and secret ballot elections. The Radical Party governments of the 1920s initiated important labor reforms, but the Great Depression of the 1930s hit Argentina hard, and demands for more social and economic reform alarmed the conservative military leadership, which engineered a coup that brought on 16 years of conservative rule, based on electoral fraud, intimidation and military support. Yet, it was a military officer within the junta, Juan Perón, who ended the “Infamous Decade,” by winning the presidential election of 1946. With his wife Eva, popularly known as Evita, Perón initiated populist policies that included nationalizing the banks and railways, investing in industrialization, and spending on social welfare for workers and the poor.
These changes provoked hostility among economic elites, the Roman Catholic Church and the military, which unseated him in a 1955 coup d’état that ushered in twenty years of political instability and economic uncertainty. With Perón living in exile in Spain, the government suppressed Perónism, and the military interfered when the government promoted progressive policies. Allowed to run for election again in 1973, Perón returned from exile and won 61% of the vote. His sudden death in 1974, and the shock of the rise in the price of oil, yielded yet another military coup in 1976. This military junta then engaged in the “dirty war,” in which up to 30,000 Argentines were “disappeared,” i.e., they were secretly kidnapped, tortured and executed by the government. The junta’s serious failures to address economic problems, public corruption, human rights abuses and, finally, the country's spectacular 1982 defeat by the United Kingdom in the Falklands War following Argentina's unsuccessful attempt to seize the Falkland Islands, combined to discredit the military regime. Under strong public pressure, the junta lifted bans on political parties and gradually restored basic political liberties.
Those liberties were put to the test during the 1980s and 1990s, as the conservative Perónist government (Perónism has both right and left wing tendencies) of President Carlos Menem pursued neoliberal policies, including free trade, privatization, and debt reduction, which reduced inflation, but by the late 1990s led to 20% unemployment and a serious economic crisis in 2001-2002. Nevertheless, the Argentine military remained on the sidelines, and left wing Perónist candidates Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Kirchner won election to the Presidency in 2003 and 2007, respectively. Since that time, the economic situation has improved, and Argentina is enjoying a period of stability.
History of U.S. Relations with Argentina
History of U.S. Relations with Argentina
Since the coup d’état of 1930, U.S.-Argentine relations have followed a familiar pattern: the two countries are generally closer when Argentina is governed by democratically-elected leaders, and less so when military juntas or pressure suppress democratic politics. The U.S. was openly critical of the military junta of the 1940s, for example, because it openly admired the fascism of the Axis powers. The United States was likewise publicly critical, although privately supportive, of the military regime that ran Argentina’s “dirty war” from 1976 to 1983 and attacked the Falkland Islands. Relations were probably their best ever during the presidency of conservative Perónist Carlos Menem, who was notable for his policy of “automatic alignment” with the U.S., meaning that Argentina gave almost instant approval to U.S. international policy. Indeed, Menem turned more than a few heads when, in 1990, he described the U.S.-Argentine alliance to be a “carnal relationship,” although he did not indicate which nation was on top. Since the elections of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Kirchner in 2003 and 2007, however, that policy has been abandoned, and Argentina pursues a more independent course on the world stage.
Kissinger to Argentines on Dirty War: “The Quicker You Succeed the Better” (National Security Archive)
Current U.S. Relations with Argentina
Since the restoration of democracy, relations between the U.S. and Argentina have been basically friendly. However,since the elections of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Kirchner in 2003 and 2007, Menem’s policy of “automatic alignment” has been abandoned, and Argentina pursues a more independent course on the world stage. At times, this has yielded tension, for example in 2003 when Argentina declined to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Another source of friction is the island nation of Cuba, with which Argentina has pursued closer relations despite U.S. policies designed to isolate one of the world’s last communist regimes.
In 2007, 270,000 Americans visited Argentina, a number that has been increasing since the end of Argentina’s 2001-2002 economic crisis. The number of Argentines traveling to America has grown consistently in recent years, with visits up from a post-crisis low of 150,719 in 2003 to 212,096 in 2006. Lured partly by the low cost of living in Buenos Aires, 35,000 American citizens were registered in 2005 with the U.S. Embassy as permanent residents in Argentina. About three times that number of Argentines, 100,864, live in the U.S. Argentine immigration to the U.S. is a relatively recent phenomenon, as the 1970 census counted only 44,803 Argentine-Americans. New York City has attracted the largest number of Argentines, no doubt drawn by the cosmopolitanism and opportunity available there, and in Los Angeles, which also claims a large Argentine-American population.
Where Does the Money Flow
Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly educated population, a globally competitive agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Argentina is one of the most developed countries in Latin America, as measured by its GDP per capita and its Human Development Index. Argentina’s economy has sustained a robust recovery following the severe 2001-2002 economic crisis, with five consecutive years of more than 8% real growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Economic expansion is improving the lot of ordinary people, with poverty levels dropping dramatically and unemployment down from more than 21% in 2002 to 8.8% in the third quarter of 2007. Manufacturing is the largest single sector of the economy, with 22% of GDP.
Agriculture, however, dominates Argentina’s exports by accounting for 55% of their value, and Argentina ranks third worldwide in production of soybeans, fifth in corn, and eleventh in wheat. Argentina’s foreign trade situation has improved recently, with a $12 billion trade surplus in 2006, falling to $11.2 billion in 2007 due to a strong increase in imports. The country’s main trading partners are Brazil, the U.S. and China. Argentina’s imports from the U.S. totaled $5.8 billion in 2007, while its exports to the U.S. totaled $4.9 billion. This trade covers an immense variety of goods and types of goods.
More than 450 U.S. companies are currently operating in Argentina and employ more than 150,000 Argentine workers. U.S. investment in Argentina is concentrated in telecommunications, petroleum and gas, electric energy, financial services, chemicals, food processing, and vehicle manufacturing. The stock of U.S. direct investment in Argentina approached $16 billion at the end of 1999, according to embassy estimates.
All of the $1.6 million in U.S. aid to Argentina in 2006 was dedicated to Peace and Security. International Military Education and Training received $1.2 million, and Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs received $400,000. The budget estimate for 2008 increased aid to $2 million, with similar a distribution of funds. The budget request for 2009 will bring aid back to $1.7 million. International Military Education and Training will receive $900,000, Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs will receive $450,000, and International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement will receive $305,000.
Controversies
Simpsons Stir Up Perónists in Argentina
A recent episode of the popular American television show, “The Simpsons,” contained inaccurate dialog referring to Juan Perón as a dictator who “disappeared” people, which has led to criticism from Perónists.
“Simpsons” stirs uproar in Argentina (by Charles Newbery, Variety)
Human Rights
Argentina is a democratic republic, whose 2007 elections were deemed generally free and fair. During the rule of a right-wing military junta, from 1976 to 1983, as many as 30,000 people were kidnapped, tortured, and/or killed by the government in what is called the “dirty war.” Although such abuses are a thing of the past for Argentina, some difficulties have arisen in bringing the perpetrators to justice, because in 1990 the Menem administration issued a blanket amnesty. In 2007, however, pursuant to an Argentine Supreme Court decision overturning the amnesty, the government continued trials that had been suspended, and convicted several people. The investigations and trials are ongoing. Argentina generally respects human rights, including rights to free expression, religious liberty, and fair criminal procedure. Further, in 2008, Argentina abolished capital punishment. Nevertheless, problems remain, including killings by police or security forces and use of unwarranted or excessive force; violent, overcrowded, substandard, and life-threatening prison and jail conditions; occasional arbitrary arrest and detention; prolonged pretrial detention; continued weak judicial independence; official corruption; domestic violence and sexual harassment against women; trafficking in persons for sexual and labor exploitation, primarily within the country; and child labor.
Debate
Since the beginning of Argentina’s recovery from the 2001-2002 economic crisis, a debate has ensued on whether the left of center policies of Presidents Nestor and Cristina Kirchner have helped or hindered economic growth. The conservative Heritage Foundation argues that the recovery occurred despite these policies, while the progressive Center for Economic and Policy Research maintains that some of the Kirchners’ decisions have fostered economic good times (PDF).
Past Ambassadors
Name: Caesar A. Rodney
State of Residency: Delaware
Title: Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jan 27, 1823
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 27, 1823
Termination of Mission: Died at post, Jun 10, 1824
Note: Commissioned as Minister Plenipotentiary at Buenos Aires.
Name: John M. Forbes
State of Residency: Massachusetts
Title: Chargé d'Affaires
Appointment: Mar 9, 1825
Presentation of Credentials: [Aug 20, 1825]
Termination of Mission: Died at post, Jun 14, 1831
Name: Francis Baylies
State of Residency: Massachusetts
Title: Chargé d'Affaires
Appointment: Jan 3, 1832
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 15, 1832
Termination of Mission: Left post, Sep 26, 1832
Note: Commissioned to the Republic of Buenos Aires.
Name: William Brent, Jr.
State of Residency: District of Columbia
Title:. Chargé d'Affaires
Appointment: Jun 14, 1844
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 15, 1844
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Jul 7, 1846
Note: Commissioned to the Republic of Buenos Aires.
Name: William A. Harris
State of Residency: Virginia
Title: Chargé d'Affaires
Appointment: Feb 19, 1846
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 7, 1846
Termination of Mission: Probably presented recall before Sep 12, 1851
Note: Commissioned to the Argentine Confederation.
Name: John S. Pendleton
State of Residency: Virginia
Title: Chargé d'Affaires
Appointment: Feb 27, 1851
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 12, 1851 or soon thereafter
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge from Montevideo, Uruguay, as of Mar 31, 1854.
Note: Commissioned to the Argentine Republic. Pendleton served as Chargé d'Affaires to Chile from 1841 to 1844, and Minister to Brazil in 1852.
Name: James A. Peden
State of Residency: Florida
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Jun 29, 1854
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 22, 1855
Termination of Mission: Left Buenos Aires about May 1, 1857
Note: Commissioned on May 22, 1854, as Chargé d'Affaires to the Republic of Buenos Aires, but did not proceed to post in this capacity. Nominated Feb 25, 1856, to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Confederation; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it. The dates given on the second line [see entry below] are for Peden's service as Minister Resident to the Republic of Buenos Aires; those in brackets on the third line relate to his service as Minister Resident to the Argentine Confederation, with its capital at Parana.
Name: James A. Peden
State of Residency: Florida
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Jun 25, 1856
Presentation of Credentials: [Dec 1, 1854]
Termination of Mission: [Presented recall, Dec 1, 1858]
Name:Benjamin C. Yancey
State of Residency: Georgia
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Jun 14, 1858
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 1, 1858
Termination of Mission: Transmitted recall by note from Montevideo, Uruguay, Sep 30, 1859
Note: Commissioned to the Argentine Confederation.
Name: John F. Cushman
State of Residency: Mississippi
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Jul 18, 1859
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 22, 1859
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge Feb 17, 1861
Note: Commissioned to the Argentine Confederation. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 24, 1860.
Name: Robert M. Palmer
State of Residency: Pennsylvania
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Mar 28, 1861
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 5, 1861
Termination of Mission: Left post about Apr 12, 1862
Note: Commissioned to the Argentine Confederation.
Name: Robert C. Kirk
State of Residency: Ohio
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Mar 4, 1862
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 21, 1862
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 26, 1866
Note: Commissioned to the Argentine Confederation.
Name: Alexander Asboth
State of Residency: Missouri
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Mar 12, 1866
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 20, 1866
Termination of Mission: Died at post, Jan 21, 1868
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic. Accredited also to Uruguay; resident at Buenos Aires. Asboth, born in Hungary, served the United States Army with distinction as a Brigadier General during the Civil War.
Name: H. G. Worthington
State of Residency: Nevada
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Jun 5, 1868
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 11, 1868
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Jul 8, 1869
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic. Accredited also to Uruguay; resident at Buenos Aires.
Name: Robert C. Kirk
State of Residency: Ohio
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Apr 16, 1869
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 8, 1869
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Nov 4, 1871
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic. Accredited also to Uruguay; resident at Buenos Aires.
Name: Julius White
State of Residency: Illinois
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Dec 12, 1872
Presentation of Credentials: May 6, 1873
Termination of Mission: Left post, Nov 14, 1873
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Commissioned during a recess of the Senate Jul 23, 1872; declined appointment. White served the U.S. Army with distinction as a Brigadier General during the Civil War.
Name: Thomas O. Osborn
State of Residency: Illinois
Title: Minister Resident
Appointment: Feb 10, 1874
Presentation of Credentials: May 21, 1874
Termination of Mission: Recommissioned as Minister Resident/Consul General
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Name: Thomas O. Osborn
State of Residency: Illinois
Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
Appointment: Jul 7, 1884
Termination of Mission: Probably presented recall on or before Oct 15, 1885
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jul 7, 1884.
Name: Bayless W. Hanna
State of Residency: Indiana
Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
Appointment: Jun 17, 1885
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 15, 1885
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Note: Commissioned to the Argentine Republic. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Apr 28, 1886.
Name: Bayless W. Hanna
State of Residency: Indiana
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jul 1, 1887
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 15, 1888
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 8, 1889
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 15, 1881.
Name: John R. G. Pitkin
State of Residency: Louisiana
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jul 26, 1889
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 31, 1889
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug 15, 1893
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 9, 1890.
Name: William I. Buchanan
State of Residency: Iowa
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jan 26, 1894
Presentation of Credentials: May 19, 1894
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 11, 1899
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Name: William P. Lord
State of Residency: Oregon
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Oct 16, 1899
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 14, 1900
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 27, 1903
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 14, 1899. Lord served as a Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1880 to 1894, and as Governor of Oregon from 1895 to 1899.
Name: John Barrett
State of Residency: Oregon
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jul 2, 1903
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 21, 1903
Termination of Mission: Left post, Apr 27, 1904
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation Nov 16, 1903. Barrett served as Minister to Siam (Thailand) from 1894 to 1898, Minister to Panama from 1894 to 1895, Minister to Colombia from 1895 to 1896, and Director General of the Pan American Union (now the Organization of American States) from 1907 to 1921.
Name: Arthur M. Beaupre
State of Residency: Illinois
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Mar 17, 1904
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 17, 1904
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 2, 1908
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Name: Spencer F. Eddy
State of Residency: Illinois
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Apr 2, 1908
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 27, 1908
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 2, 1909
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Name: Charles H. Sherrill
State of Residency: New York
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Apr 1, 1909
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 30, 1909
Termination of Mission: Left post, Sep 16, 1910
Note: Commssioned to the Argentine Republic.
Name: John W. Garrett
State of Residency: Maryland
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Dec 14, 1911
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 29, 1912
Termination of Mission: Left post, Nov 22, 1913
Name: Frederic Jesup Stimson
State of Residency: Massachusetts
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Oct 1, 1914
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 8, 1915
Termination of Mission: Left post, Apr 21, 1921
Name: John W. Riddle
State of Residency: Connecticut
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Nov 18, 1921
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 8, 1922
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 28, 1925
Name: Peter Augustus Jay
State of Residency: Rhode Island
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Mar 18, 1925
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 24, 1925
Termination of Mission: Left post, Dec 30, 1926
Name: Robert Woods Bliss
State of Residency: New York
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Feb 17, 1927
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 9, 1927
Termination of Mission: Left post, Apr 29, 1933
Name: Alexander W. Weddell
State of Residency: Virginia
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jun 3, 1933
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 18, 1933
Termination of Mission: Left post, Oct 29, 1938
Note: Weddell served as Ambassador to Spain from 1939 to 1942.
Name: Norman Armour
State of Residency: New Jersey
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: May 18, 1939
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 19, 1939
Termination of Mission: Normal relations interrupted Feb 24, 1944; new Government of Argentina still unrecognized by the United States when Armour left post, Jun 29, 1944.
Note: In a long career as a foreign service officer, Armour served as Chief of Mission to eight countries (France, 1929; Haiti, 1932-1935; Canada, 1935-1938; Chile, 1938-1939; Argentina, 1939-1944; Spain, 1945; Venezuela, 1950-1951; and Guatemala, 1954-1955), and as Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 1922 to 1924. While serving in Russia during the 1917 Revolution, he met and eventually married a Russian princess.
Name: Spruille Braden
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: May 8, 1945
Presentation of Credentials: May 21, 1945
Termination of Mission: Left post, Sep 23, 1945
Note: Braden was one of the owners of the Braden Copper Company in Chile, a prominent shareholder of the United Fruit Company, an officer in the W. Averell Harriman Securities Corporation, and an agent of Standard Oil. He held several brief but important ambassadorships, to Colombia (1939-1942), Cuba (1942), Argentina (1945), Guatemala (1953-1954), and Chile (1975-1976). His diplomatic activities in these countries often coincided with coups d’etats and other interventions in internal politics.
Name: George S. Messersmith
State of Residency: Delaware
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Apr 12, 1946
Presentation of Credentials: May 23, 1946
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 12, 1947
Note: Messersmith served as the head of the U.S. Consulate in Nazi Germany during the rise of the Nazi party.
Name: James Bruce
State of Residency: Maryland
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jul 12, 1947
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 21, 1947
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug 20, 1949
Name: Stanton Griffis
State of Residency: Connecticut
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Sep 22, 1949
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 17, 1949
Termination of Mission: Left post, Sep 23, 1950
Name: Ellsworth Bunker
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Mar 13, 1951
Presentation of Credentials: May 8, 1951
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 12, 1952
Note: Although not a career foreign service officer, Bunker was an experienced diplomat. He served as ambassador to Italy from 1952 to 1953, India from 1956 to 1961, the Organization of American States from 1964 to 1966, and South Vietnam from 1967 to 1973.
Name: Albert F. Nufer
State of Residency: New York
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: May 29, 1952
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 14, 1952
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 12, 1956
Name: Willard L. Beaulac
State of Residency: Rhode Island
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: May 10, 1956
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 1, 1956
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug 2, 1960
Note: Nominated July 17, 1953 to be Ambassador to Argentina; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it; renominated in 1956. Beaulac served as ambassador to Paraguay from 1944 to 1947, Colombia from 1947 to 1951, Cuba from 1951 to 1953, and Chile from 1953 to 1956. He also wrote five books on foreign affairs.
Name: Roy Richard Rubottom, Jr.
State of Residency: Texas
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Aug 27, 1960
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 20, 1960
Termination of Mission: Left post, Oct 19, 1961
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate Jul 29, 1960; declined appointment.
Name: Robert McClintock
State of Residency: California
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Feb 6, 1962
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 14, 1962
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 10, 1964
Name: Edwin M. Martin
State of Residency: Ohio
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jan 29, 1964
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 11, 1964
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 5, 1968
Name: Carter L. Burgess
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jul 24, 1968
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 21, 1968
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 14, 1969
Name: John Davis Lodge
State of Residency: Connecticut
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: May 27, 1969
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 23, 1969
Termination of Mission: Left post, Nov 10, 1973
Note: Lodge served as a Republican Congressman from Connecticut from 1947 to 1951, Governor of Connecticut from 1951 to 1955, Ambassador to Spain from 1955 to 1961, and Switzerland in 1983.
Name: Robert C. Hill
State of Residency: New Hampshire
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Dec 19, 1973
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 15, 1974
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 10, 1977
Note: Hill served as ambassador to Costa Rica from 1953 to 1954, El Salvador from 1954 to 1955, Mexico from 1957 to 1960, and Spain from 1969 to 1972.
Name: Raul H. Castro
State of Residency: Arizona
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Sep 15, 1977
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 16, 1977
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 30, 1980
Note: The Mexican-born Castro served as ambassador to El Salvador from 1964 to 1968, and to Bolivia from 1968 to 1969. He was the first Hispanic Governor of Arizona from 1975 to 1979.
Name: Harry W. Shlaudeman
State of Residency: California
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Oct 2, 1980
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 4, 1980
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug 26, 1983
Name: Frank V. Ortiz
State of Residency: New Mexico
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Nov 18, 1983
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 29, 1983
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug 29, 1986
Name: Theodore E. Gildred
State of Residency: California
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Oct 16, 1986
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 6, 1986
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 31, 1989
Name: Terence A. Todman
State of Residency: Virgin Islands
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Apr 20, 1989
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 13, 1989
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 28, 1993
Note: Todman served as ambassador to Chad from 1969 to 1972, Guinea from 1972 to 1975, Costa Rica from 1975 to 1977, Spain from 1978 to 1983, and Denmark from 1983 to 1989.
Name: William Graham Walker
State of Residency: Maryland
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Note: Nomination of May 12, 1992, was not acted upon by the Senate.
Name: James Richard Cheek
State of Residency: Arkansas
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: May 28, 1993
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 19, 1993
Termination of Mission: Left post, Dec 18, 1996
Note: Ronald D. Godard served as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, Dec 1996- .
Name: Hassan Nemazee
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jan 6, 1999
Note: Nomination returned without confirmation Aug 5, 1999.
Name: James Donald Walsh
State of Residency: Pennsylvania
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Jun 14, 2000
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 3, 2000
Termination of Mission: Left post May 21, 2003
Name: Lino Gutierrez
State of Residency: Florida
Foreign Service officer
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointment: Apr 16, 2003
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 15, 2003
Termination of Mission: Left post, April 8, 2006
Argentina's Ambassador to the U.S.
Nahón, Cecilia
Cecilia Nahón presented her credentials as Argentina’s Ambassador to the United States on February 19, 2013. It’s Nahón’s first ambassadorial post.
Mary Cecilia Nahón was born May 17, 1974. She received bachelor’s degrees in social sciences and economics from the University of Buenos Aires. While there, she was friends with Axel Kicillof, now the economy minister of Argentina. Later, both were leading members of La Cámpora, a youth movement strongly supportive of former Argentinian President Néstor Kirchner, and after his 2010 death, his widow and now President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Nahón attended the London School of Economics, earning an M.S. in Development Studies in 2000. She later earned a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Latin American School of Social Sciences. Her thesis was on “External financing and economic development in Latin America: the cases of Argentina and Mexico in the nineties.”
Nahón’s first professional position, in 2008, was as manager of strategy and investment environment for Argentina’s national investment and development agency.
In January 2011, Nahón was named assistant secretary for Investment Development in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship. She moved on to Argentina’s secretary of International Economic Relations in December 2011. She held that post until her posting in Washington.
Nahón’s appointment was seen by many Argentinean observers as more evidence that the La Cámpora movement, which grew out of Perónist values and espouses policies of social justice and state intervention, is gaining ground, as some of the old guard are being pushed out in favor of younger La Cámpora members.
Nahón is married with two children, Gabriel and Julia. Her husband, Sergio García Gómez, is a vice president at Aerolinas Argentinas, a government-controlled airline now run by another La Cámpora appointee.
-Steve Straehley
To Learn More:
Ms Nahón Confirmed as Argentine Ambassador in the US; Takes Office in February (Merco Press)
- Table of Contents
- News
- Overview
- Basic Information
- History
- Newspapers
- History of U.S. Relations with Argentina
- Current U.S. Relations with Argentina
- Where Does the Money Flow
- Controversies
- Human Rights
- Debate
- Past Ambassadors
- Ambassador to the U.S.
- Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
- Comments
- Leave a comment
U.S. Ambassador to Argentina
Mamet, Noah
One Barack Obama campaign contribution bundler will soon succeed another in Buenos Aires as ambassador to Argentina. Noah Bryson Mamet, who raised more than $500,000 for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, was nominated by Obama on July 30 to succeed Vilma Martínez, who served in Buenos Aires starting in July 2009.
Born circa 1971 in Manhattan Beach, California, Noah Mamet earned a B.A. at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1992. At the age of 21, Mamet worked for the Democratic Party as a driver and bodyguard during the primary election campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Mel Levine, who lost his race for the nomination to Barbara Boxer, who then beat Republican Bruce Herschensohn in the general election. Mamet went on to work for the California Democratic Party and helped run the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign in Santa Barbara County. In 1994 he was the campaign manager for Peter Mathews’ unsuccessful Congressional run in Long Beach.
Mamet served as senior advisor and national finance director for House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt from 1995 to 2003, and continued working for Gephardt’s unsuccessful presidential bid in 2004. Between 1995 and 2002, Mamet helped Gephardt raise more than $238 million for Democratic congressional campaigns, committees and other political groups. After the dust of the 2004 primaries had settled, Mamet founded Noah Mamet & Associates, a Los Angeles-based political consulting firm that today also has offices in San Francisco and New York.
Although he worked as a campaign contribution bundler for Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008, Mamet became a key player in President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, bundling more than $500,000 for the President.
Mamet serves as a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the American Council of Young Political Leaders. He also sits on the boards of the Los Angeles based Green Dot Public Schools, a public charter school operator in California, and NatureBridge, a nonprofit that teaches math and science to children. In 2007, Mamet served on an international delegation for the National Democratic Institute monitoring the first elections in Sierra Leone after that country’s civil war. Mamet has also been an adviser to the Wasserman Family Foundation in Los Angeles, which focuses on philanthropic causes including education reform.
-Matt Bewig
To Learn More:
Noah Mamet Nominated as US Ambassador (Buenos Aires Herald)
morePrevious U.S. Ambassador to Argentina
Wayne, Earl Anthony
Earl Anthony Wayne was nominated by President Bush to be Ambassador of the United States to Argentina on April 4, 2006, and the Senate confirmed his nomination on July 28, 2006. Wayne was born in 1950 in Concord, California. He earned his BA in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1972, and subsequently received an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, an MA from Princeton University, and another MA from Stanford University. He joined the Foreign Service in 1975. Early in his career, Wayne was posted as a political officer in Rabat, Morocco, and as an analyst of Chinese domestic and foreign policies in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Wayne was Special Assistant to Secretaries of State Alexander Haig and George Shultz from 1981 to 1983, and from 1984 to 1987, he served as First Secretary at the embassy in Paris. From 1987 to 1989, Wayne took a leave of absence from the Foreign Service and worked as National Security Correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.
From 1989 to 1991, Wayne was Director for Regional Affairs for the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Counter-Terrorism, formulating and implementing counter-terrorism policy cooperation during the first Iraq war and the fall of the Iron Curtain. From June 1991 to June 1993, he was Director for Western European Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). Wayne was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the European Union from July 1993 until July 1996, served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Canada from 1996 to 1997, and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the bureau of European Affairs from 1997 until spring 2000. From June 2000 to June 2006, he was Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, where he played a lead role coordinating reconstruction assistance to countries hit by the December 2004 Asian tsunami, and the international response to the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. Wayne speaks French.
Comments