A2 · Elementary
10 min
foodinternational relationseconomicshistory
La Carne y la Política: Argentina, Irán y el Precio de Romper Relaciones
Beef and Politics: Argentina, Iran, and the Price of Breaking Ties
Fletcher breaks down this story in English. Octavio reacts and expands in Spanish. Follow along with the live transcript, tap any word for its translation. Elementary level — perfect for beginners building confidence.
So this week Argentina told Iran's top diplomat to pack his bags and leave within 48 hours.
And my first thought, honestly, was not about geopolitics.
It was about beef.
Bueno, Fletcher.
Well, Fletcher.
Argentina tiene la mejor carne del mundo.
Argentina has the best beef in the world.
I knew that was coming.
But look, there's a real point underneath the compliment.
Argentina is not just a country that makes good steak.
It is one of the biggest food exporters on the planet.
Sí.
Yes.
Argentina exporta trigo, maíz, soja.
Argentina exports wheat, corn, soybeans.
Mucho.
A lot.
And here is the extraordinary thing.
Iran is actually one of Argentina's customers.
Has been for decades.
So when Buenos Aires officially designates the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization and kicks out the Iranian diplomat, you have to ask: what happens to that food trade?
Mira, Irán compra mucho trigo de Argentina.
Look, Iran buys a lot of wheat from Argentina.
Es importante.
It's important.
Right.
And before we get into all of that, let's just quickly explain what actually happened.
Argentina said Iranian officials made statements that were, quote, false and offensive.
The context is the ongoing war in the Middle East and Argentina's long, painful history with Iran.
Es que hay una historia muy difícil entre los dos países.
The thing is, there's a very difficult history between the two countries.
The 1994 AMIA bombing.
For anyone who doesn't know: a car bomb destroyed the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
85 people killed.
It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history.
And Argentina has long pointed the finger at Iran.
Sí, en Buenos Aires hay muchas familias judías.
Yes, in Buenos Aires there are many Jewish families.
Es una comunidad grande.
It is a large community.
One of the largest Jewish communities outside Israel and the United States, actually.
And that bombing in 1994 never really healed.
The pain of it sits underneath every diplomatic interaction Argentina has had with Iran since.
La verdad es que Argentina no olvida el atentado.
The truth is that Argentina does not forget the bombing.
No, it doesn't.
But here's what makes this complicated, and this is where food comes back into the story.
Even with all of that history, Argentina kept trading with Iran.
Wheat ships kept sailing.
And the reason for that is simple: the Pampas.
Bueno, las Pampas son tierras muy buenas.
Well, the Pampas are very good land.
El suelo es muy rico.
The soil is very rich.
Incredibly rich.
I remember driving through the Pampas years ago on a reporting trip and just being stunned by the sheer scale of it.
Flat as a table, stretching to the horizon.
Wheat, corn, soy, sunflowers.
It is one of the most productive agricultural zones in the world.
A ver, Argentina produce comida para muchos países.
Let's see, Argentina produces food for many countries.
No solo para Irán.
Not only for Iran.
Exactly, and that's a crucial point.
Argentina is the world's third largest exporter of soybeans, the largest exporter of soybean oil and soybean meal, a major wheat and corn exporter.
When Argentina sneezes, grocery stores from Tehran to Jakarta feel it.
Mira, el pan en Irán necesita trigo.
Look, bread in Iran needs wheat.
Y Argentina tiene trigo.
And Argentina has wheat.
That is the heart of it.
Bread.
In the Middle East, bread is not a side dish.
It is a cultural cornerstone.
In Iran, wheat consumption per person is among the highest in the world.
And historically, a significant portion of Iranian wheat imports has come from places like Argentina and Australia.
Es que el pan es muy importante en la cultura iraní.
The thing is, bread is very important in Iranian culture.
Es especial.
It is special.
I spent time in Tehran in the early 2000s.
Every morning, the bakeries.
You would stand in line.
They would pull these enormous flatbreads out of stone ovens, and people would walk home with them draped over their arms like a towel.
It was extraordinary.
Bueno, en España también el pan es muy importante.
Well, in Spain bread is also very important.
Cada barrio tiene una panadería.
Every neighborhood has a bakery.
The thing is, when we talk about this diplomatic rupture between Argentina and Iran, we are not just talking about politics.
We are talking about a chain that goes from a wheat field in the province of Buenos Aires to a bakery in Isfahan.
Break the diplomacy, and you can break that chain.
La verdad es que la comida y la política siempre van juntas.
The truth is that food and politics always go together.
Always.
And Argentina's case is particularly fascinating because of who Argentina is.
It's a country of immigrants, many of them from Italy and Spain, right, Octavio?
So you have a European food culture transplanted onto some of the most fertile land in the world.
Sí, la comida argentina viene de España y de Italia.
Yes, Argentine food comes from Spain and Italy.
La pizza, la pasta.
Pizza, pasta.
Buenos Aires has more pizza restaurants per capita than Naples.
I read that once and I'm still not entirely sure I believe it, but I believe it enough to repeat it.
A ver, la pizza argentina no es italiana.
Let's see, Argentine pizza is not Italian.
Es diferente.
It is different.
Más gruesa.
Thicker.
And then there's the asado.
The Argentine barbecue.
Which is not just a way of cooking, it's a social institution.
A religious experience, some would say.
El asado es muy serio en Argentina.
The asado is very serious in Argentina.
No es una comida normal.
It is not a normal meal.
I covered a story in Buenos Aires about fifteen years ago.
My fixer invited me to a family asado on a Sunday.
We sat down at two in the afternoon.
We didn't finish eating until eight at night.
Six hours.
And it wasn't six hours of eating constantly.
It was six hours of cooking, talking, drinking wine, arguing about football.
Eso es normal.
That is normal.
El asado es lento.
The asado is slow.
Hay tiempo para hablar.
There is time to talk.
And the beef.
I mean, I spent many years eating in many countries, and I will say, without qualification, the beef in Argentina is something else.
There's a reason for it, right?
The grass-fed cattle on the Pampas.
It is not the same animal.
Bueno, las vacas en Argentina comen hierba natural.
Well, the cows in Argentina eat natural grass.
No comen maíz.
They do not eat corn.
Which makes an enormous difference to the flavor.
And to the texture.
And this is actually relevant to the geopolitics, because Argentina's beef industry is a major source of national income and national identity.
When you threaten Argentina's trade relationships, you are touching something deep.
La carne es parte de la identidad argentina.
Beef is part of Argentine identity.
Es muy importante para ellos.
It is very important to them.
So let's bring it back to the present moment.
Argentina has now officially broken ranks, designated Iran's Revolutionary Guards as terrorists, expelled the diplomat.
In the middle of a war.
This is not a small gesture.
And underneath it, quietly, is the question of what happens to the grain ships.
Mira, Irán puede comprar trigo de otros países.
Look, Iran can buy wheat from other countries.
De Rusia, por ejemplo.
From Russia, for example.
No, you're absolutely right about that.
Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, and Russia and Iran are, to put it mildly, on the same side of several geopolitical fences right now.
So yes, Iran can pivot.
But every pivot has a cost.
Es que cambiar de proveedor cuesta dinero y tiempo.
The thing is, changing suppliers costs money and time.
Exactly.
Logistics, contracts, port facilities, transport routes.
None of it is instant.
And Iran is already under enormous economic pressure from sanctions and from the war.
The last thing you want when you're trying to feed 85 million people is a disruption in your wheat supply chain.
Bueno, la guerra siempre hace la comida más cara.
Well, war always makes food more expensive.
Siempre.
Always.
It does.
And that is a point worth sitting with.
We talk about wars in terms of missiles and diplomats and sanctions.
But wars are also fought in supermarkets.
In bakeries.
At kitchen tables.
The moment food gets expensive or scarce, the political temperature in a country rises fast.
La verdad es que la historia de Argentina es difícil.
The truth is that Argentina's history is difficult.
Mucha crisis económica.
A lot of economic crisis.
That's a whole other episode.
But right.
Argentina knows economic crisis intimately.
The 2001 collapse.
Hyperinflation in the eighties.
And yet, through all of it, the country kept producing food.
The Pampas kept giving.
Which is part of why food is such a source of both national pride and national frustration there.
A ver, Argentina produce mucha comida, pero muchos argentinos tienen hambre.
Let's see, Argentina produces a lot of food, but many Argentines go hungry.
Es una paradoja.
It is a paradox.
That paradox is one of the great tragedies of modern Argentina, and honestly of modern food systems generally.
A country that could feed the world struggling to feed itself.
And now, layering this diplomatic rupture with Iran on top of an already volatile economic situation, it is worth watching.
Closely.
Mira, la decisión de Argentina es política.
Look, Argentina's decision is political.
Pero la comida no espera.
But food does not wait.
That is the best summary I've heard.
Politics moves at the speed of press releases.
Food moves at the speed of hunger.
And those two speeds are never quite in sync.
I think we should leave it there for today.
Octavio, as always, it's been a pleasure.
Bueno, hasta la próxima, Fletcher.
Well, until next time, Fletcher.
Y no pongas hielo en el vino.
And do not put ice in your wine.