MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
“Argentina needs its armed forces for peace; they have been ignored for years”, says Macri on Army Day
“We have begun a new stage in the life of our nation, which urges us to leave behind old conflicts and divisions...This Argentina also needs its armed forces” 
It is essential the armed forces “adapt to the needs and demands of the 21st century, backing our foreign policy, taking part in peace missions” Argentine President Mauricio Macri said Monday that Argentina needs armed forces adapted to the 21st century, ready to carry out peace missions and come to the rescue in times of disaster, after “years” of being ignored by the government. He made the statement at an Army Day event.
“We have begun a new stage in the life of our nation, which urges us to leave behind old conflicts and divisions...This Argentina also needs its armed forces,” the president said during the Army Day commemoration at a military school in Buenos Aires province that he attended together with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
For that reason, it is essential that the armed forces “adapt to the needs and demands of the 21st century,” Macri said, “backing our foreign policy, taking part in peace missions” and dealing with problems caused by “climate change” such as natural disasters.
“The Argentine people need their armed forces to stand ready,” he said.
However, the president said, “the armed forces have been ignored and abandoned for years, and this has created budget, equipment and infrastructure problems.”
He also spoke about disadvantages the military has suffered in terms of pay and retirement benefits, and promised to work so that members of the armed forces get “the same pay increases as other government workers” receive in compensation for rising inflation.
Finally, Macri used the occasion to congratulate members of the military expedition that recently carried out the first Argentine mission to the North Pole, and said they were an example of how the “gap can and must be closed” between what Argentines are and what they can become. “Argentines are here to do more, and we can do more”.
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Read all comments“the first Argentine mission to the North Pole” I don't believe that the UK made a complaint about this. We believe that the seas are open to all outside territorial waters.
May 31st, 2016 - 12:24 pm 0Macri said, “backing our foreign policy” Does this include the Falklands ?
“Argentines are here to do more, and we can do more”...“Argentina needs its armed forces for peace”
May 31st, 2016 - 01:32 pm 0Perhaps he wants to “peaceably” invade the Falklands.
Macri seems to bend whichever way the wind is blowing: perhaps HE feels threatened and needs 'the Army' to help defend the state.
It's not just the national armed forces that were neglected and allowed to fall into ruin during the Kirchner years. The provincial aircraft fleet for Bs As also wasn't maintained. Only 3 of its 7 helicopters can fly. Need US$1.5 million to do repairs for the fleet. Plenty of money squandered and stolen by CFK but precious little to keep things actually working.
May 31st, 2016 - 02:37 pm 0http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1904163-vidal-vendera-la-mayor-parte-de-la-flota-aerea-con-problemas-tecnicos
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