The aircraft carrier USS George Washington is sent to Argentina

In one of the milestones of the diplomatic and military offensive launched by the United States to contain China's advances in Latin America, the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, is scheduled to arrive in Argentina next May.

It is the fourth ship of the US Navy to bear the name of the first president. At the end of the year, after a six-year refit, longer than expected, she once again became the flagship of the US 7th Fleet stationed in Japan. It is the only American aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean To replace the USS Ronald Reagan, which was based in Yokosuka, Japan. It is a region of high geostrategic importance that causes tensions with China, which does not like the presence of a competitor in a region it dominates.

Its arrival in the South Atlantic is also one of Strong gestures from Javier Miley to his first ally In the international field. Information that was Expected on the international radar website This Friday for Clarion From senior official sources they said that at the present time, if the process is not included in the current treatment in Congress of the traditional law on the entry and exit of troops into national territory, a welcome ceremony will be held on the high seas by the Argentine government. President Milley and several of his ministers will then travel by helicopter to the USS George Washington, which will not dock in any port in Argentina, as there is certainly no infrastructure for it to dock.

It is concluded that in addition to Miley, Ministers Louis Petrie (Defence); Patricia Bullrich (Security), Diana Mondino (External Relations); The President’s sister and Secretary-General of the Presidency, Karina Miley; In addition to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brigadier General Xavier Isaac and Navy Commander Carlos Alievi.

While Chief of Staff Nicholas Bossie has just finished his tour in Washington, where he interviewed senior officials in the Joe Biden administration, Deputy Secretary of State Brian Nichols will be in Buenos Aires on Monday. It is not unlikely, then, that this could lead to a visit by Anthony Blinken himself, the head of diplomacy in the United States government.

The United States is also among the support that the International Monetary Fund was recently allowed to disburse 4.7 billion US dollars They were waiting to be able to continue paying off the debt. For its part, Miley announced, although it will maintain normal trade relations with China, that it will no longer remain a “strategic partner.” First of all, it will not enter the BRICS group and will buy a fleet of F-16 supersonic aircraft from the United States, not from China.

As he knew Clarion According to military sources, relations are “going from strength to strength,” and the Commander of the United States Fourth Fleet, General Laura Richardson, is expected to visit next April. This visit will reveal two other facts: Visit of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austinwho prepares The first defense summit of the hemisphere to be held in Buenos Aires It has a date of November.

Miley and Biden are also scheduled to meet in Rio de Janeiro during the G20 summit, which will also be held in November.

If the Freedom Leader's friendship agreement with Washington moves forward, this newspaper also learns that the USCGC Stone, a US Coast Guard patrol ship, will conduct exercises with the province in April. This belongs to the orbit of Minister Bullrich, whose predecessor Anibal Fernández had already left the security cooperation agreements that paved the way for these maneuvers. At that time, Sabrina Frederic, Alberto Fernández's first security minister, made a big fuss over the sovereignty issue against the United States, suspending any possibility of cooperation in the South Atlantic with this symbolic patrol ship sailing in the Caribbean. And the South Atlantic Ocean.

The US ambassador here, Mark Stanley, also just said on television that President Biden, who is entering the end of this term and running for re-election, could meet with Miley this year. The diplomat recently resumed his duties after the end-of-year holiday, and on Friday wrote on Twitter that he was in Bahía Blanca.

“I am happy to announce that we have made a $50,000 donation to a humanitarian aid project to rebuild Primary Schools 36 and 45 in Bahía Blanca. I hope this small contribution will help bring back a little bit of normalcy to the children who depend on these institutions to ensure their future,” he said. To those affected by the year-end storm in the aforementioned city, which destroyed several places and left 13 dead. Stanley then toured the entire city.

Specialized defense websites reported in November that the aircraft carrier USS George Washington sailed that month after a six-year refit. The refueling process was longer than expected, and was not without tragedy due to the occurrence of some suicides during the refueling phase by several sailors. Maintenance and modernization work has been carried out.

With its repair, the USS George Washington can carry a Boeing Mq-25A Stingray drone, which refuels fighter jets while flying at a distance of up to 800 kilometers from the aircraft carrier. This is considered a “capability that will make the ship more suitable for operation in the hypothetical scenario of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.”

It was built by Newport News Shipbuilding Company and commissioned on July 4, 1992. In May 2008, while leaving the port of Norfolk (Virginia) for its stop in Japan, a fire broke out on board the ship off South America, causing damage worth $70 million. .

It was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier deployed by the United States in Japan from 2008 to 2015.

The huge ship, or rather its naval crew members, was the subject of an investigation when the media in the United States revealed that the quality of life of the crew while in the shipyard was not good. For example, they reported that between 2017 and April 2022, there were at least nine seafarer suicides on board. Power outages, hot water shortages and unbearable temperatures were detected.