Remarks by Peter Lamelas, ambassador-designate to Buenos Aires, at confirmation hearing also draw sharp responses from Argentine officials
China has issued a sharp rebuke to comments made by Peter Lamelas, the US ambassador-designate to Argentina, saying they reflected a “Cold War mentality” after he accused Beijing of fostering corruption and being a malign influence across Latin America.
At his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Lamelas said he intended to travel across Argentine provinces to monitor agreements involving Chinese companies, which he claimed “could lend themselves to corruption”.
On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Buenos Aires condemned the remarks, warning that such rhetoric risked turning Argentina into “a battlefield for great power confrontation”.
The statement also accused Lamelas of ideological prejudice and criticised what it described as an outdated foreign policy reminiscent of the Monroe Doctrine.
