[Aktungbby]

https://warontherocks.com/2021/03/a-...outh-atlantic/

In March, the South Atlantic witnessed an unusual scene: a U.S. ship turning around and sailing for home, having been refused docking rights and services by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From January to March, the U.S. Coast Guard deployed one of its newest cutters, the USCGC Stone, to the South Atlantic, with the mission to strengthen maritime security relations and help curb illegal fishing — predominately Chinese — off the South American coast. This was the Coast Guard’s first such regional deployment in over a decade, and its first three-quarters were a success, training and cooperating with the maritime forces of Guyana, Brazil, and Uruguay. In Argentina, however, the mission hit a snag when the government refused to provide the dock services that are routine for such a visit.

The press paid little attention to this kerfuffle, but it was yet another sign that a tectonic shift is underway. In the South Atlantic, former U.S. security partners are building stronger ties with China, a shift that presents critical future risks for Washington and the inter-American community

China’s growing presence in Antarctica and its bending of the Antarctic Treaty rules away from conservation and toward resource exploration and extraction are well documented. Beijing wants more communications and logistics links to its scientific research stations, tourism providers, and fishers in the region. A Chinese operating location — a dedicated airport and port — in Tierra del Fuego would boost the local economy, improve local tourism and commercial services, and give China the strategic presence it seeks. If Beijing could secure terms similar to those of the space facility in Neuquén, this would essentially give its military a presence at the Strait of Magellan, a chokepoint in the transit route of U.S. aircraft carriers (too large for the Panama Canal) between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and easy access across Antarctica.

Bottom line : having failed in the Falklands Argentina is now in cahoots with China's global Road and Belt ambitions