More Sorrow Than Anger

Will the U.S. be the loser?

Argentine Foreign Minister Nicanor Costa Méndez was sitting across from U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig as the Organization of American States met in Washington last week for an emergency session to consider the Falklands crisis. Staring directly at Haig during a virulent, 45-minute speech, Costa Méndez charged that U.S. support for Britain was "illegal and repugnant" and that the U.S. had "turned its back" on Latin America. He warned: "The future of the inter-American relationship is under threat." As Haig sat in stony silence, most of the assembled delegates gave the Argentine diplomat a long...