United States Army General Laura Richardson recently travelled to Argentina to strengthen ties between the two nations. Richardson and the U.S. Southern Command donated a C-130H Hercules aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to the Argentine Air Force as a token of good will.
Her three-day visit last week was primarily aimed at strengthening military collaboration between the countries. It also involved discussions on key mutual concerns such as a mysterious Chinese space station in Argentina’s Neuquén province that is currently being investigated. China has raised other concerns too.
“They [China] have not defended the sovereignty of the Argentine Sea from illegal fishing,” Argentine President Javier Milei said.
Richardson has previously voiced concerns about China’s continued investments in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia’s Lithium Triangle as well. She believes this activity represents a risk to international security.
Milei’s government has actively sought to establish a trade agreement with the U.S. for lithium and other critical minerals. The country’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Argentina to discuss this and other topics with Milei in February.
Richardson travelled to the city of Ushuaia in southern Argentina where she was greeted by Milei and educated by local military personnel on their role in protecting global shipping routes. This was followed by a ceremony in Buenos Aires to celebrate gifting the US$34 million Hercules aircraft to Argentina.
“This C-130 can do it all. From routine transport to humanitarian and disaster relief operations to supporting Antarctic scientific research,” Richardson said at the event.
The U.S. values our close defense partnership with Argentina. #SOUTHCOM’s Gen. Laura Richardson met with Minister of Defense Luis Petri today to discuss ways to strengthen the partnership & contribute to Argentina’s ongoing military modernization goals. @luispetri @MindefArg pic.twitter.com/RkbeG6R9YA
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) April 3, 2024
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Milei to visit Elon Musk and Tesla factory
Local reports have indicated that the Argentine leader will be seeking investments from Elon Musk in the communications and automotive industries.
“On Apr. 13, a trip to Texas is planned to visit the Tesla factory and on that day [the president] will meet with Elon Musk,” Milei’s spokesman Manuel Adorni said.
Lithium is an essential component in the batteries needed for Tesla’s electric vehicles. It is also essential in the communications industry for batteries in various devices.
Argentina holds about 21 per cent of the world’s reserves and extracts about 40 kilo tons of the commodity annually.
Major companies extracting the battery metal from Argentina’s salt flats include South Korea’s Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) (KRX: 005490) and Arcadium Lithium plc (NYSE: ALTM).
Smaller lithium operators poised for significant growth include Lithium South Development Corporation (TSX-V: LIS) (OTCQB: LISMF) (Frankfurt: OGPQ) and Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. (TSX-V: LIT).
Argentina exported US$85 million worth of lithium to the U.S. during the month of December alone last year.
Lithium South Development Corporation is a sponsor of Mugglehead news coverage
rowan@mugglehead.com
