US ambassador confirms warnings to Argentine utility over Chinese tech

The U.S. ambassador to Argentina, Peter Lamelas, has formally responded to an inquiry from the Neuquén Provincial Cooperative of Public and Community Services (CALF), reaffirming U.S. policy concerns regarding the potential contracting of Chinese technology firm Huawei. The ambassador's letter confirms that prior warnings, communicated via WhatsApp to CALF's technological manager, accurately reflect official U.S. policy.

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I confirm that the correspondence faithfully reflects the policy of the United States. As ambassador, my obligation and priority in Argentina is to protect national security and promote U.S. investment, which is deeply intertwined with the growth and economic security of Argentina itself; it is in the spirit of goodwill and mutual interest that we have raised this matter with the cooperative.

Lamelas stated that his obligation and priority in Argentina are to protect national security and promote U.S. investment, which he believes is intertwined with Argentina's economic growth and security. He expressed a desire to meet with CALF representatives to understand their planned technological procurements. The ambassador emphasized that companies subject to Chinese intelligence and security laws are compelled to surrender data collected globally to the Chinese Communist Party.

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Companies subject to Chinese intelligence and security laws are obligated to hand over the data they collect, anywhere in the world, to the Chinese Communist Party.

Highlighting the significance of the Vaca Muerta region for Neuquén's economy and CALF's operations, Lamelas stressed that protecting data is a shared priority. He argued that this issue affects the province's security and long-term competitive position, not just U.S. interests. The U.S. Embassy's role, he explained, is to promote secure and reliable technologies, and they would welcome a discussion about trustworthy alternative suppliers.

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Given the importance of Vaca Muerta for the economy of Neuquén and for CALF's own operations, we consider protecting this data a shared priority: an issue that affects the security and long-term competitive position of the province, not just the interests of the United States.

Following Lamelas's communication, the Chinese Embassy in Argentina issued a statement rejecting the U.S. accusations. The Chinese representation accused the U.S. Embassy of deliberately promoting the "China threat theory," broadly applying the concept of national security, and using visa revocations to obstruct normal cooperation between Argentine companies and Huawei. The embassy characterized these actions as reflecting U.S. arrogance and prejudice.

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The U.S. Embassy in Argentina has deliberately fanned the 'China threat theory,' generalized the concept of national security, and, by revoking visas, brazenly prevented Argentine companies from having normal cooperation with Chinese company Huawei.