During her late-April trip to Argentina, Gen. Laura Richardson, head of the U.S. Southern Command, delivered a strident anti-China and anti-Russia message to Argentina, which recently joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), warning of the “dangers” that the BRI, infrastructure building and space collaboration posed to the country, while repeating the tiresome warnings about Russian “disinformation” on its Ukraine operation spread through widely read Spanish-language Russian media RT en Español and Sputnik Mundo. These publications have too much influence on public opinion, she complained. The Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires issued a strongly worded statement in response to Richardson’s remarks on May 6 (see separate report).
Prior to arriving in Argentina, Richardson traveled to Chile where she largely met with military personnel. In Buenos Aires, while she met with Defense Minister Jorge Taiana and with Lt. Gen. Martin Paleo, the head of Argentina’s Joint Chiefs, she departed from protocol to request a meeting with Vice President and former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, which was unusual. Fernández de Kirchner is close to both the Chinese and Russian governments.
