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🇦🇷 Argentina /Elections & Politics

Javier Milei Sets Out Falklands Measures in National Address

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Javier Milei used a televised national address to reaffirm Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands and accuse the United Kingdom of maintaining a colonial situation.
  • He said Argentina would respond to suspected foreign activity involving oil and fishing near the islands with diplomatic, economic, judicial and legal measures.
  • Milei announced plans to expand defense resources, build a naval base in Tierra del Fuego, amend sanctions legislation and create a National Security Council.

Javier Milei devoted a 20-minute prerecorded national address to the Falkland Islands, opening with an uncompromising declaration that “The Falklands are Argentine, by history and by right.”

Speaking from the White Room of the Casa Rosada, surrounded by his cabinet, the president said the United Kingdom had occupied the islands in 1833, expelled Argentine authorities and imposed a colonial situation that continues today. He also rejected the islanders’ right to self-determination, describing them as a population installed in territory Argentina considers usurped.

The Falklands are Argentine, by history and by right. In 1833, the United Kingdom occupied the Falklands, expelled the Argentine authorities and installed a colonial situation that continues to this day.

· Javier MileiMilei opened his national address by restating Argentina’s sovereignty claim.

Milei said he would introduce measures in response to what he called illegal or suspicious activity by foreign actors near the islands, particularly in hydrocarbons and fishing. He cited the Sea Lion project, operated by Navitas Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration, and said it could begin offshore oil production in the coming months.

The Malvinas cause does not belong to any political party. It is a national cause.

· Javier MileiHe framed the sovereignty dispute as a matter of national consensus.

“If we do not act firmly and quickly, in a few months they will have the ability to appropriate the oil reserves beneath our sea,” Milei said. He added that Argentina would deploy diplomatic, economic, judicial and legal tools against state and non-state actors that violated its sovereignty.

The president said the Defense Ministry would receive additional resources, with the priority of building a naval base in Tierra del Fuego. He also announced a national sovereignty defense bill that would amend Law 26.659 to sanction companies linked to unauthorized operations and establish a National Security Council to protect Argentina’s airspace and maritime territory. Milei said Argentina’s Foreign Ministry had already sent about 180 notes of discouragement to companies and more than 29 countries involved in projects on the islands.

If we do not act firmly and quickly, in a few months they will have the ability to appropriate the oil reserves beneath our sea, something that had never happened before.

· Javier MileiHe warned about the potential start of offshore oil exploitation near the islands.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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