WI: Argentina a major aviation center?

After WWII a number of German aircraft engineers like Kurt Tank and Reimar Horten went to live in exile in Argentina. There were others like French designer Émile Dewoitine. At the time Argentina was financially well off and Peron had big plans to industrialize. The country invested a lot of money into the aviation industry and some impressive results were achieved. However the Argentine economy collapsed and its aviation projects all became might have beens.

But what if Argentina managed to keep its economy in a little better shape and kept the aviation industry as a priority. How sophisticated could this industry be today and what kind of influence would we expect it to have on the world, given Argentine politics and place in the world?
 
Sadly the Argentine aircraft industry was an example of the state putting the cart before the horse. Argentina had alot of potential after world war II. The nation was undamaged by conflict, its population was fairly wealthy, it was a major agricultural exporter, and it was the most industrialized nation in Latin america. However Argentina's economy still wasn't developed enough to support a self sustaining consumer economy. Aregentina was also over dependent on British Capital, at a time when Britain's economy was on the decline.

By focusing on its aircraft industry, and import substitution heavy industries, Argentina neglected its economic strengths, namly its agricultural industry. Consequentially Argentina was eternally playing a game of catch up with its 1st world competitors. It was reliant upon the west for expense machine tool imports, in order to produce a product which was already obsolete when it entered the world market. Argentina's industrial base will need to be alot more advanced for it to support a world class aviation industry.
 
You could have someone else than Menem governing Argentina in the 1990s and impulsing different policies, including keeping the military aviation factory working and under State control instead of selling it to Lockheed Martin. At some point, it can merge with Embraer if sufficient political will exists on both countries.
 
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