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.

 

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.

 

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

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)

 

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. 

 

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.

Congressional Budget for Foreign Operations (pages 653-654) (PDF)

 

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)

 

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. 

 

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).

 

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

 

 

 

Born on April 20, 1956, in Cordoba, Argentina, Argüello soon moved with his family to Neuquen Province, where he lived until attending high school at Rochester Community High School in Rochester, Indiana, from which he graduated in 1974. Argüello returned to Argentina to earn a Law degree at the University of Buenos Aires in 1985 and later a Master’s degree in public administration at the University of San Andrés.

 

Early on, Argüello became involved in Peronism, a left-of-center populist Argentine political movement, and was elected in 1987 to the Buenos Aires City Council and then to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, where he served from 1991 to 1995. In 1994, Argüello served as host organizer of the first official visit to Argentina of a British Parliamentary delegation since the Falklands War of 1982, and later represented Latin America in the 1994-95 meeting of the organization Parliamentarians for Global Action.

 

Leaving the Chamber of Deputies after one term, Argüello was elected to the 1996 convention to amend the Constitution of the City of Buenos Aires, and served as president of the Peronist bloc during the convention. In 1997, Argüello was elected to the newly-created Legislative Assembly of the City of Buenos Aires, where he served two three-year terms, from December 4, 1997 to December 10, 2003. Elected again to the Chamber of Deputies, Argüello served from December 10, 2003 to June 18, 2007, becoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in 2005 and organizing the office of the Parliamentary Observer for the Falkland Islands. Argüello also served as Vice President of the Peace and Security Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2006 and 2007.

 

Perhaps in recognition of Argüello’s work on the Falklands issue, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner appointed Argüello Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations in June 2007. At the U.N., Argüello continued to press Argentine claims to the Falklands, and created controversy in 2011 by contending that the British government had exempted the territory from austerity-driven budget cuts to prevent emigration to Argentina, which was not cutting its budget. British officials denied this claim.

 

Argüello was appointed chairman of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization in 2008, and of the Group of 77 for their 2011 session. His tenure was highlighted by his support for the Kyoto Protocol for reducing global warming. President Cristina Kirchner named him ambassador to the United States in November 2011, and he presented his credentials to President Barack Obama on January 18, 2012.

 

Argüello is married to journalist Erika Grinberg and has four children.

 

Cristina designó a Jorge Argüello como embajador en EE (by Clarín.com) (in Spanish)