The Chief of Staff Nicolas Posse and the Minister of Economy Luis Caputo They visited this Friday the head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, with whom they analyzed the situation in the Middle East and Argentina’s security challenges.
Argentine officials traveled to the agency’s headquarters in Langley, in the state of Virginia, on the outskirts of this capital. There they were received by Burns, who before assuming leadership of the CIA was a diplomat for more than 30 years.
For those who follow security issues, Caputo’s presence at the meeting was surprising, given that it is not frequent for Economy officials to visit the agency’s headquarters. Caputo and Posse are in Washington for meetings within the framework of the IMF and World Bank Assembly, and also went to meetings at the Treasury and White House.
The American had visited Buenos Aires last month, where he had met with Posse, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and the head of the AFI, Silvestre Sívori.
According to a Government statement, the meeting presented “the progress on the issues on the common work agenda between both countries in matters of intelligence and the current situation in the conflicts of Middle East and Ukraine”. They also talked about cybersecurity and defense issues, they stated.
Burns’ work pays special attention to the Middle East crisis, the actions of Hezbollah and the influence of Iran, China and Russia in Latin America. One of his concerns is the agreement that Bolivia signed with Iran, which made the granting of visas to Iranians more flexible. The Shiite regime supports terrorist organizations such as Hamas, author of the attack against Israel on October 7, and Hezbollah, which was recently confirmed by a court ruling as the author of the attacks against the AMIA and the Israeli embassy in Argentina.
Last week Burns met with Minister Patricia Bullrich, who was in Washington for several days. In an interview with Clarion, She said Burns was concerned about “these new alliances where terrorist groups in many cases use criminal organizations to commit crimes” and that “they launder money and some of it goes to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah. So, there is a strategic issue for the United States in this.”
“Another issue is the concerns they have about which critical infrastructures may be in the hands of China,” Bullrich said.
Argentina raised security alerts after the drone and missile attack by Iran and allied countries against Israel last Saturday. President Javier Milei, who was in Miami after receiving an award from a Jewish community, canceled a trip to Denmark and returned to Buenos Aires.
The Government increased security levels on the border and also at Israeli targets and strategic infrastructure.
This Friday Israel responded with an attack on the Iranian region of Ishfahan, where projectiles are manufactured and there is an important military base, in a conflict that can escalate unpredictably.