talkpolitics | On the Airplane Incident

Argentina and the United States are currently in the offs over an American C-17 transport plane that was seized by Argentine customs officials. The plane was sent as part of a routine training of Argentine federal police in handling hostage crisises. Argentine officials are claiming that the plane contained unusual cargo that wasn't listed on the manifest, specifically arms and drugs, including morphine. The US for its part is claiming that everything was above-board and that the search itself was "unusual and unannounced" and was inappropriately seized. The American government is requesting the material be returned, the Argentine government is saying "no way".

Confusingly, despite seizing the plane because it contained unannounced cargo, the customs officials did not see fit to contact the judiciary. This despite citing Argentine law in support of the seizure.

For my part, I think the US is being a bit disingenuous by whining about the search being unannounced. Random searches of cargo and passengers is standard procedure for customs officials, and if the Argentine government had reason to suspect something was afoot of course they wouldn't give the Americans advance warning.

I can see five scenarios behind the whole incident:

The plane was loaded with weapons and drugs knowingly and the US is now trying to cover its ass.
The plane was loaded with weapons and drugs by a rogue element (somebody trying to perform a bit of smuggling on Uncle Sam's dime) and the US is now trying to buy time while it performs its own investigation.
The plane was loaded with weapons and drugs as the result of an epic clerical error (or the error is that they got left off the manifest) and the US is buying time while it performs an investigation.
A rogue element inside Argentine customs needs to cover its tracks and the plane made a convenient way to dispose of items that had gotten a little too hot.
Somebody in the Argentine government with an axe to grind with the US planted the weapons and drugs. This person's superiors are patsies.

Finally, I (an American expat living in Argentina) find the rhetoric from the Argentine government, particularly President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, disquieting. The increasingly confrontational comments stemming from this incident and the Wikileaks documents make me wonder if Cristina is borrowing a page from Hugo Chavez's playbook: tough, anti-American rhetoric to generate support as a defender against a foreign power. (What better scapegoat than the world's lone superpower, especially since it has a well-earned reputation for unduly interfering with other nations.) Presidential elections are in October, after all.