ABSTRACT
Argentina's foreign policy had been oriented toward Europe. Argentine efforts to minimize the role of the United States in South America had been a feature of several Pan American meetings. General Goes Monteiro notwithstanding, Argentina already possessed hegemony in the region. Argentina's outraged response was nothing short of startling. The Brazilian reaction to the Argentine response was one of deep alarm. Officials throughout Brazil expressed bitter outrage at what they viewed as unwarranted intervention on the part of Argentina and meek surrender on the part of the United States. Arms purchases from Washington, he protested, could well link Argentina and the United Stated too intimately in the task of hemispheric defense. Everything seemed favorable for the conclusion of a satisfactory arrangement, thus making more intimate the relations between Argentina and the United States. Everything, that is, except the timing.
