countries had made large-scale investments in Argentina. However, as a prosperous neutral it greatly expanded trade with the United States during the war and exported meat, grain and wool to the Allies particularly to Britain, providing generous loans and becoming a net creditor to the Allied side, a policy known as "benevolent neutrality". 1940s Argentina's policy during the Second World War was marked by two distinct phases. During the early years of the war, Argentine President Roberto M. Ortiz sought to sell food and wool to Britain. He even proposed to US President Franklin Roosevelt for both countries to join the Allies together as non-belligerents in 1940. However his proposal was snubbed at the time, as Roosevelt was trying to get re-elected. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, US foreign policy worked to unite all of Latin America in a coalition against Germany, but Argentina's neutralist stance had hardened since the resignation of Ortiz who resigned because of poor health. The United States worked to pressure Argentina into the war against the wishes of Britain, which supported Argentine neutrality in an effort to maintain vital provisions of beef and wheat to the Allies that were safe from German U-boat attacks. Most of the beef and the wheat consumed in Britain came from Argentina. US policy backfired after the military seized power in a coup in 1943. Relations grew worse, prompting the powerful US farm lobby to promote the economic and diplomatic isolation of Argentina and attempt to keep it out of the United Nations. The policy was reversed when Argentina became the last Latin American nation to declare war on Germany in March 1945. Argentina had hosted a fairly-organized pro-German element before the war that had been controlled by German ambassadors. It operated openly, unlike in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Historians agree that the affinity between Argentina and Germany was greatly exaggerated. The Argentine government remained neutral until the closing weeks of the war and after the war quietly tolerated and in some cases aided the entry of German scientists and some notable war criminals including Josef Mengele, Adolf Eichmann, Erich Priebke, Josef Schwammberger, and Gerhard Bohne who were fleeing Europe through ratlines. The voyages of German submarines U-530 and U-977 to Argentina at the end of the war led to legends, apocryphal stories, and conspiracy theories that they had transported escaping Nazi leaders (such as Adolf Hitler) and/or