Word: argentinas
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Washington could also take heart from the fact that official Latin American criticism was not unanimous and was frequently delivered more in sorrow than in anger. Although most countries in Central and South America recognize Argentina's claim to sovereignty over the Falklands, many viewed Argentina as the aggressor last April. Mexican officials conceded that, in the words of one diplomat, U.S. support for Britain was "easily predicted from the beginning." The trouble was, he added, that "the U.S. has no friends, no allies in Latin America, only interests. And those interests are often not in the best interest...
...involved in tense border disputes of their own. Charging that Washington had disrupted the basis of the O.A.S. and created a North-South breach in the hemisphere, Caracas sent a delegation to Western Europe to plead for an end to the European Community's economic sanctions against Argentina. The sudden surge of nationalism in Caracas raised fears in Guyana, meanwhile, that Venezuela might resort to military action to seize 58,000 sq. mi. of mineral-rich territory that have been the subject of dispute since the beginning of the century...
However, U.S. policy in Central America is expected to suffer a serious setback. Until the Falklands war, the U.S. was counting on Argentina and Venezuela for help in its attempt to bolster El Salvador's regime against leftist guerrillas and condemn Nicaragua's revolutionary government for allegedly aiding the insurgents. Any new U.S. offensive branding Nicaragua as a "Marxist aggressor" will meet with little backing after Nicaragua's outspoken support for Argentina. Reports one recent visitor to Nicaragua: "After the first shots were fired in the Falklands, you could almost hear a great sigh of relief coming...
Some Latin American officials are pessimistic about the precedent that has been set by Argentina. Colombia's Foreign Minister Carlos Lemos Simmonds fears a "Malvinas syndrome" in which governments will use war to forge national unity in the face of serious internal problems. Lemos Simmonds also blames the U.S. and the industrialized nations for their unrestrained competition in arms sales. Says he: "At the moment, there is no more dangerous area of the world than Latin America." Cuba has offered to send troops and arms to Argentina, but the most that U.S. experts expect Havana to gain is propaganda...
...first words upon arrival at Gatwick Airport captured his extraordinary, characteristic boldness. "My visit is taking place at a time of tension and anxiety," he said, though not mentioning the Falkland Islands by name. He pointedly appealed for prayers for peace. But besides that ever fiercer war with Argentina, where he now plans to travel next week, John Paul spoke to the religious conflict of the centuries. For the Pope was visiting a nation that symbolizes, perhaps as no other, rebellion against the papal office...