ABSTRACT
Argentina's first casualty of the Second World War was to be the Lapez-Sueyro mission. Merely days after the close of the Rio conference, Cordell Hull spoke with General Marshall regarding the fate of the Argentine request. A major move by Argentina to strengthen its armed forces had once more heightened Getúlio's concern. Washington, faced with overwhelming global priorities, had little desire to antagonize Argentina despite the residue of bitterness felt in the State Department as a consequence of the Rio meeting. Tonazzi's rival and immediate successor at the Ministry of War, General Ramirez, also accepted the exaggerated verdict of the memorandum, and Argentina suddenly perceived herself in a position of military inferiority. With conflict at South America's doorstep thanks to Hitler's navy and a declaration of war by Brazil imminent, Argentina retreated further into what Conil Paz and Ferrari have described as "proud isolation".
