Last weekend, social media went viral with images of the arrival of a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-40 Clipper aircraft, which later visited the city of Ushuaia and the province of Neuquén. Subsequently, today, January 27, the arrival of a second aircraft of the same type in Argentina was confirmed, transporting an official delegation.
As previously noted following the arrival last Saturday of the aircraft identified by tail number “05-0730,” the C-40 Clipper is the military version of the Boeing 737 Next Generation currently in service with the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
One of the reasons for closely tracking the aircraft’s presence in Argentine territory lies in its role, since beyond transporting cargo and military personnel, it is also used for VIP transport of civilian officials, both from the U.S. executive and legislative branches. Moreover, neither the reason for its arrival nor its official itinerary had been formally disclosed by the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires or by Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For this reason, the arrival today of a second aircraft of this class—specifically a C-40C Clipper bearing tail number “02-0202”—finally prompted an official response from Argentina’s Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno.
In this regard, the head of the San Martín Palace stated on his personal X account: “It is a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce visiting Argentina.”
He added: “Given the interest that Argentina’s government plan is generating worldwide and, in this case, the strategic relationship between Argentina and the United States, we welcome the visits of the various delegations interested in our country.”
However, Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to issue an official statement providing further details on the presence of both U.S. military aircraft in national territory, whose delegations have visited strategic locations such as the city of Ushuaia in southern Argentina—given its projection toward the South Atlantic and Antarctica—and the province of Mendoza, where Vaca Muerta stands as one of the main growth hubs of the country’s, the region’s, and the world’s energy and hydrocarbons sector.
Finally, as previously reported by Escenario Mundial, “… The arrival of the second C-40—linked to the Davos environment—reinforces the perception that Argentina has been inserted into a high-level agenda at a particularly sensitive moment, with ongoing debates over strategic resources, Antarctic projection, and international alignments. At the same time, the absence of official information fuels a scenario in which questions grow faster than certainties.”
*Photographs used for illustrative purposes.
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