At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) asked President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Peter Lamelas about brokering relations between the U.K. and Argentina to enable Argentina to purchase Western-made weaponry.
00:00Thank you, Senator Kane. Senator Ricketts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, thank you all for wanting to serve our great nation. Really appreciate it. And also for your families as well, because you will spend time away from your friends and family, and they will sacrifice along with you as you do this job, should you be confirmed.
00:20So thank you for your interest in wanting to do that. And I also just want to, again, compliment our State Department people who work in our embassies across the world. They do such a fantastic job.
00:32Argentina's geostrategic significance in the South Atlantic continues to rise. Communist China and Russia are building up their presence around Antarctica.
00:42And the Strait of Magellan, which passes through Argentina, is one of two safe maritime routes between the Atlantic and the Pacific.
00:50Encouragingly, under President Mille, Argentina has increasingly aligned with the U.S. and NATO. However, due to the longstanding tensions between the U.K. and Argentina over the Falklands, Britain has long blocked sales of military equipment with British components to Argentina, even sales by third countries.
01:08This has complicated our ability to support Argentina as it desperately looks to modernize its armed forces. It has also driven Argentina to look to Communist China for weapons.
01:17The prior government nearly bought Chinese fighter jets. And let's not forget, Communist China still operates a satellite station in Patagonia.
01:26Dr. Lamelas, under President Mille, it appears that real progress can be made between the U.K. and Argentina over the Falklands.
01:35This could lead to a loosened restrictions on weapons exports by the U.K. and help steer Argentina's defense modernization away from Beijing and toward Western suppliers.
01:45If confirmed, what actions will you take to encourage increased relations between the U.K. and Argentina to achieve this result?
01:51Thank you, Senator Ricketts. Your question is deeply appreciated. Also, your oversight of our role, ongoing role, will be deeply appreciated.
02:04And I don't want to correct you, but the islands, the islands are an issue. The United States does not recognize sovereignty over the islands for either Argentina or Britain.
02:20They recognize the administration of the British people on the island, but we have a position of neutrality over the islands.
02:29And anything that encourages dialogue, ongoing dialogue, between Britain and Argentina is appreciated.
02:38One of the roles that I have as an ambassador would be to travel to all 23 provinces, including, obviously, I think if there was an opportunity to travel to the islands,
02:48I'd be more than happy to cooperate with the British administration there and do that as an outreach.
02:54I think Javier Malay has a good perspective on this.
02:58We are trying to further align ourselves with Argentina.
03:02One of my roles would be to push back against the CCP.
03:07The United States has to act as a counterweight against the CCP.
03:12We need to encourage more U.S. goods and supplies.
03:16The military sale recently of the F-16s is fantastic because they have ongoing service and maintenance of the F-16s.
03:24So, more outreach.
03:27One of my goals as ambassador would be to increase trade and increase investment.
03:33Currently, Argentina – actually, the U.S. has approximately a $2.1 billion trade surplus with Argentina.
03:42I think a rising tide lifts all boats.
03:44I'd like to increase more trade bilaterally between Argentina and the United States and increase U.S. investments.
03:52One of my roles as an ambassador will be not only tariff – I have very little to do with the tariffs.
03:58That's the U.S. trade representative.
04:00But what I could do is lower non-tariff trade barriers that currently exist.
04:04VAT taxes, currency controls, port delays.
04:08So, all of these efforts that I have – that I've outlined – I have a plan.
04:13I'd be more than happy to share it with you – are going to improve U.S.-Argentine relationships and push China out little by little.
04:23Great. Thank you very much.
04:24Well, you know, it's just not about Argentina.
04:26Across the world, Communist China is eagerly looking to increase arms sales, and this has serious implications for us
04:34because when countries purchase a Chinese weapon, they are tied to Beijing through the entire life side of the weapon,
04:39particularly to what you were just talking about with the F-16s, why we want to sell them the weapons.
04:45That's why I introduced the Think Twice Act with Senator Bennett to require a global strategy to dissuade countries from purchasing Chinese arms.
04:51And I hope you will support this legislation, given the impact it would have on your future posting.
04:58And I see that I am out of time, so I will turn it back over to Chairman.
05:01Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
05:02Thank you, Senator Ricketts, Senator Shaheen.
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