U.S. Responded to Government: “We Have No Reason to Apologize”
The United States government assured Argentina today that they have no reason to apologize for the U.S. military plane that was detained last Thursday at Ezeiza Airport for having undeclared goods.
“We have no reason to apologize,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley in a press conference. This was after cabinet chief, Aníbal Fernández, exhorted the Pentagon to force the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Frank Mora, to personally “apologize” to Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman for having called him a “liar.”
Crowley emphasized that Washington has had a “long record of close cooperation” with Argentina and so was surprised and concerned by the reaction of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s government.
"Mora even dared to call our foreign minister (Héctor Timerman) a liar. I hope that the Department of Defense forces him to apologize, because there is a record that shows that they wanted to smuggle three machine gun barrels, a rifle barrel, a rifle and other undeclared material," stated Aníbal Fernández.
Destruction of the Material
The official [Aníbal Fernández] also confirmed that the plane committed a customs violation and that current Argentine law permits the “confiscation and disposal of the material until its proper destruction.”
"There is an Argentine law that governs customs violations like the one that has been committed, which falls under the principle of national sovereignty; they have to respect this in our country, just as we respect that of other countries," he declared.
Aníbal’s statement seems to have been inspired by the speech the president gave yesterday, which put her squarely in the conflict, calling for the defense of national sovereignty and interests.
The official [Fernández] referred to the possibility of the confiscated cargo ultimately being destroyed. He cited Articles 954 and 977 of the Customs Code and said, “If an importation is declared and a different item is brought in, it is Custom’s responsibility to confiscate the material and to dispose of it until the time of its destruction.”
In Custody
The weapons, communication equipment and handful of illegal substances carried by the U.S. Air Force plane remained under custody of the Airport Security Police (PSA) in Ezeiza’s main customs area. Everything is neatly placed in a container, organized in seven pallets and sealed with a satellite security seal that transmits directly to a laboratory located in Custom’s headquarters.
The Globemaster III, registration number 77184, arrived in Argentina last Thursday to bring materials for federal police security courses. This practice, which started in 2009, was called off last August because of a similar event: The U.S. customs declaration did not match the cargo inspected by control agencies in Ezeiza.
This time, despite the Casa Rosada’s efforts to keep the event under cover, the information was leaked. After 48 hours of silence, the government chose to strongly criticize Washington, causing an unexpected rift to open.
*Editor's note: All quotations contained herein, though accurately translated, could not be verified.
**Editor's note: Casa Rosada, or Pink House, is the Argentine Presidential Palace.
“We have no reason to apologize,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley in a press conference. This was after cabinet chief, Aníbal Fernández, exhorted the Pentagon to force the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Frank Mora, to personally “apologize” to Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman for having called him a “liar.”
Crowley emphasized that Washington has had a “long record of close cooperation” with Argentina and so was surprised and concerned by the reaction of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s government.
"Mora even dared to call our foreign minister (Héctor Timerman) a liar. I hope that the Department of Defense forces him to apologize, because there is a record that shows that they wanted to smuggle three machine gun barrels, a rifle barrel, a rifle and other undeclared material," stated Aníbal Fernández.
Destruction of the Material
The official [Aníbal Fernández] also confirmed that the plane committed a customs violation and that current Argentine law permits the “confiscation and disposal of the material until its proper destruction.”
"There is an Argentine law that governs customs violations like the one that has been committed, which falls under the principle of national sovereignty; they have to respect this in our country, just as we respect that of other countries," he declared.
Aníbal’s statement seems to have been inspired by the speech the president gave yesterday, which put her squarely in the conflict, calling for the defense of national sovereignty and interests.
The official [Fernández] referred to the possibility of the confiscated cargo ultimately being destroyed. He cited Articles 954 and 977 of the Customs Code and said, “If an importation is declared and a different item is brought in, it is Custom’s responsibility to confiscate the material and to dispose of it until the time of its destruction.”
In Custody
The weapons, communication equipment and handful of illegal substances carried by the U.S. Air Force plane remained under custody of the Airport Security Police (PSA) in Ezeiza’s main customs area. Everything is neatly placed in a container, organized in seven pallets and sealed with a satellite security seal that transmits directly to a laboratory located in Custom’s headquarters.
The Globemaster III, registration number 77184, arrived in Argentina last Thursday to bring materials for federal police security courses. This practice, which started in 2009, was called off last August because of a similar event: The U.S. customs declaration did not match the cargo inspected by control agencies in Ezeiza.
This time, despite the Casa Rosada’s efforts to keep the event under cover, the information was leaked. After 48 hours of silence, the government chose to strongly criticize Washington, causing an unexpected rift to open.
*Editor's note: All quotations contained herein, though accurately translated, could not be verified.
**Editor's note: Casa Rosada, or Pink House, is the Argentine Presidential Palace.