Wow, just finishing reading this thread and I was quite surprised at the following:
1. The interest of locals about race issues in Argentina.
2. Misconceptions and misunderstandings of what Argentinians consider "black" and the use of the term.
3. The quick assumption of racism because there are no Afro-Argentinians in our football national team.
I saw that some statistics were provided in this thread, I am not going to verify them but I would simply share my experience as someone who was born and was raised there.
First of all, most Argentinians are not wealthy and because of that, very few get the chance to travel abroad for any period of time. When we go on vacation, we usually choose our own beaches as travel destinations or perhaps if we have a little money we go to Uruguay or Brazil.
What most Argentinians know about the USA, England or Europe in general is just from television. A lot of us have Italian or Spaniard grandparents and their culture is visibly in Argentina's society that have adapted these traditions as their own. And yes, most Argentinians consider themselves "European descendants" and they are very proud of their heritage and it is quite shocking for them when they travel abroad and realize they are considered "latinos".
There is a saying Argentinians say which is "There are no blacks in Argentina". I know when someone hears a comment like that, they believe it is racist because they are rejecting the very tiny Afro-Argentine presence in the country but let me tell you, it is NOT the reason. I would dare to say that the "white" population in Trinidad is way bigger than our own Afro-Argentinian population. Why do I say that? Because I can travel anywhere around in Trinidad, specially in the West and I see local "whites" HOWEVER, the few times in my entire life that I have seen Black people in Argentina, they were either Brazilian or Uruguayans. This does NOT mean we do not have Afro-Argentinians but I am trying to illustrate the point of how rare is to walk around the city and meet one so it is not shocking or surprising why we do not see more Afro-Argentinians in our football teams.
So when Argentinians say "there are no blacks in Argentina" they do not mean it out of racism, they say it out of naivety and ignorance because a lot of them never met an Afro-Argentinian before OR they surely met one but they are so mixed that you can no longer tell. Now, this does not mean there is no racism or prejudice in the country. Of course there is, usually prevalent against Bolivians and Paraguayans. But again, this type of prejudice happens all over the world.
Third, some posters mentioned Juan Sebastian Veron as an example of an Afro-Argentinian. He is not considered Afro-Argentinian, he is considered a dark skinned Argentinian which we refer to as "morocho". Now the word "negro" in Argentina is used in two ways. One way is an affectionate way, friends call each other "negro" or "negrito" regardless of how you look. So yes, if you happen to be blonde with blue eyes a friend can call you "negro" or "negrito"and we also use "gordo" and "flaco" (fat and slim) in the same way.
When we use the word "negro" in other contexts, we do not mean "Afro descendant" but we mean any dark skinned Argentinian. The word "negro" could be used to describe people but it is not commonly acceptable, it all depends on the context and how it is being said, we rather the term "morocho" than "negro".
Just like most local "whites" are mixed in Trinidad, Argentinians are also of mixed heritage (whether both groups want to accept it or not or even know that they are mixed, is another story).