The Alliance That Wasn't: The United States, Argentina, and the Alliance for Progress

When John F. Kennedy proposed that the United States ally with its Latin American neighbors to facilitate regional modernization and liberal economic development through an Alliance for Progress, Argentine President Arturo Frondizi was certain that his country was destined to emerge as a major player. In light of Argentina's relatively high existing level of industrialization, in addition to its sizeable urban and relatively well-educated population, it appeared poised as a natural leader in regional development efforts. Moreover, Frondizi enjoyed a recent track record of cooperation with Wall Street, the U.S. Treasury, and the International Monetary Fund. Yet despite having received considerable U.S. assistance, Argentina failed to become a significant part of the Kennedy administration's Alliance. This paper asks why. The answer is complex and multifaceted. Perhaps the most critical factor rested in Argentina's political climate. The austere economic reforms Frondizi instituted in 1958 to secure U.S. aid made him personally unpopular. In an effort to reclaim his standing with the electorate by demonstrating his independence from U.S. officials, the Argentine president tilted toward a policy of non-alignment in the Cold War. The change failed to mollify Frondizi's domestic critics, and was seen as a sign of unreliability by Kennedy administration officials and anticommunists within the Argentine military. Moreover, no personal rapport developed between Kennedy and Frondizi. Such connections had proven important in other cases; perhaps most notably, the friendly relationship between Betancourt and Kennedy was instrumental in securing assistance for Venezuela. Kennedy administration officials miscalculated in curtailing their engagement with the Frondizi government. The limited participation of such a populous and economically important Latin American country significantly hampered the Alliance. Moreover, having lost much of the confidence of both Washington and the Argentine military without enhancing his prestige with the public, Frondizi fell victim to a military coup in 1962.