Ambassador Ortiz: Lessons from a Life of Service

15: Argentina: The Pinnacle of a Career

My giddiness over an appointment to Spain lasted only a few weeks. While in Spain on a discreet exploratory visit, we traveled to Granada to tour the southern part of the country. Very early one morning the telephone rang. It was the White House, conveying a question from President Reagan: Would I object to going to Argentina instead of Spain? It seemed that the White House had another candidate for Madrid. The administration in Washington was aware I had a good personal relationship with Italo Luder, the candidate expected to win upcoming elections for the presidency of Argentina. I had come to know Luder and Argentine politics during my time at the State Department’s Southern Cone office, when Luder was a senator. My reply to the White House was that of course I would do whatever the president wanted; Argentina would be a wonderful assignment . My acceptance meant that an ambassadorship in Spain dropped by the wayside, but it turned out for the best. Argentina became the pinnacle of my career. I was fully aware that an assignment to Argentina would be very difficult. Just about a year before, their defeat in the Falklands War had tremendously humiliated Argentina, a country of very proud people.  15 Argentina: The Pinnacle of a Career The Argentine populace is almost entirely a blend of various European nationalities. The ethnic mixtures are very handsome. The women celebrate being women; the men celebrate being men. It’s a very vibrant country, full of people of considerable self-confidence. Their defeat in the Falklands War had been a great source of dishonor for the Argentines, whose invasion to occupy the islands had been thwarted by Maggie Thatcher—with American assistance. The war poisoned the relationship between the United States and Argentina. As a matter of fact, the Argentines at the time hated Americans more than they did the British who had defeated them. Dolores and I experienced Argentine anti-American sentiment well before our arrival there in . While we were immersed in preparations for our mission, a good friend gave us a formal dinner attended by about twenty people. During a lull in the dinner conversation , an Argentine woman said, “Frank, maybe you’d like to hear the latest joke in Buenos Aires?” I said, “Well, tell me, by all means. I want to keep up to date with the jokes.” “During the Falklands War,” she said, “there was a private who was in a foxhole next to his captain. The private said, ‘Sir, I have both a British soldier and an American advisor in my gun sight. Whom should I kill first?’ The officer’s reply was, ‘Shoot the American. It’s pleasure before duty.’” The people at the table thought this funny, but I didn’t; I considered it an insult, but didn’t make it an issue. Nevertheless, it presaged our reception in Argentina. In terms of natural and human resources, Argentina rates as one of the richest countries in the world, but it has never been able to achieve its potential. The Argentines have a habit of self defeat. They never seem able to work together. In , however, we were nevertheless hopeful that the imminent return to democracy would put Argentina on the right track. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, the Argentine press was in full cry at the airport, of course. They swarmed over me like locusts with flash bulbs going off after we went through the official reception ceremonies. They peppered me with questions about how the United States would remedy its betrayal of Argentina. I said that Dolores and  ARGENTINA I would do our very best to assure that good relations between the U.S. and Argentina, essential for the prosperity and security of both countries , were not compromised. Just a couple of weeks after we arrived in Buenos Aires, Alfonsín— not Luder—assumed the presidency, ending the rule of the last military chief, General Reynaldo Bignone. The city of Buenos Aires—the whole country, in fact—went wild over the return of democracy. Vice President Bush arrived in Buenos Aires as the head of an American delegation to Alfonsín’s inaugural. He and Mrs. Bush stayed with us. The anti-American sentiment was still strong then, and the Bush’s visit called for heightened security at the embassy. We closed the big steel shutters on all the...