ARGENTINA / USA : 17 Feb UPDATE: Cristina Refuses To Return Confiscated "Goods"; U.S. Air Force Accused Of Sneaking In Weapons, Contraband."

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    Argentina is refusing to return communications equipment confiscated after a U.S. Air Force cargo plane allegedly tried to sneak-in undeclared cargo--including machine guns, ammunition, spy equipment and drugs like morphine--under the  cover of supplying a police training course.
   Items not declared included wiretapping equipment, communications equipment and what Foreign Minister Hector Timerman described as "secret things."
    At first, American troops blocked agents from examining the undeclared cargo.

    "Just imagine what would have happened if an Argentine aircraft had taken the same kind of material to the United States. [The Argentines] would all be in Guantanamo in orange overalls," Anibal Fernandez, Cristina Kirchner's cabinet chief told a radio station.
     This latest dispute follows more than 100 recently leaked American cables about Argentine corruption and earlier ones speculating over President Cristina's psychological fitness; Cristina may also be smarting from a recent snub, her omission from President Obama's upcoming tour of Latin America.