President Javier Milei said Wednesday that he wants Argentina to become “a power" so that the inhabitants of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands "prefer to be Argentine" rather than British.
Milei, 54, made his remarks in a speech commemorating the 1982 war against the United Kingdom and Argentina’s outstanding sovereignty claim over the disputed British territory.
Argentina has been claiming the archipelago, located some 600 kilometres off its coast in the South Atlantic, for nearly 200 years. It was the scene of a brief military conflict between April 2, 1982, and June 14, 1982, which ended in a defeat for Argentina and resulted in the deaths of 649 Argentines and 255 Britons.
The United Kingdom rejects Argentina’s claim and considers that the roughly 3,600 inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands have the right to self-determination.
Leading an event marking the Day of the Veteran and the Fallen in the Malvinas War, a national holiday, Milei said he hoped one day the island’s inhabitants would “prefer to be Argentine,” so that “deterrence or persuasion is not even necessary” to regain control.
Argentina's Foreign Ministry says the principle of self-determination does not apply to the Malvinas and – backed by several United Nations resolutions – has called on London to open sovereignty talks.
Buenos Aires says its claim lies in the fact that the United Kingdom "occupied the islands by force in 1833, expelled the original population and did not allow their return, violating Argentina's territorial integrity."
Surrounded by government officials, military personnel, and a handful of veterans of the conflict, Milei affirmed that his administration aspires to "a future where the islanders choose to vote with their feet."
The La Libertad Avanza leader went on to accuse previous administrations of undermining Argentina's sovereignty claim due to "the economic and diplomatic decisions of the political caste" – his pet name for the opposition or anyone he considers to be an enemy.
"Nobody can take seriously the claim of a nation whose leadership is globally recognised for its corruption and incompetence," he remarked.
Milei was joined at Wednesday’s event by key members of his Cabinet, including Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos, though Vice-President Victoria Villarruel was absent, leading service involving former combatants in Ushuaia, the provincial capital of Tierra del Fuego.
In the past, Milei has sparked controversy for openly admiring former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who led the UK government during the war.
The President has a photograph of Thatcher in his office at the Casa Rosada presidential palace, according to domestic news outlets.
Rhetorical tension
Despite his support for the sovereignty claim, Milei's speech had significant rhetorical tension. On one hand, he reaffirmed Argentina's claim and pledged to "exhaust all diplomatic avenues" to reclaim the islands; on the other, he evoked the British theory of self-determination, suggesting that islanders should "vote with their feet" and voluntarily choose to become Argentine.
These lines coexist within the same presidential discourse but reflect two divergent approaches: one is based on international law and diplomacy, while the other aligns with the British position, which holds that the islanders should determine their political status – a position Argentina has historically rejected.
Milei’s remarks prompted a torrent of criticism from the opposition, not least former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who criticised the "over-ideologisation, underfunding and diplomatic malpractice" of current policies
Guillermo Carmona, former Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic secretary, criticised Milei's position, saying the head of state of “once again legitimises the decision of the islanders, a perverse way of enabling a right to self-determination which does not apply to them and that the international community has never recognised.”
"No president of any government has ever reached this level of alignment with the British. The Malvinas issue involves only two parties: the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," Carmona added.
Maximiliano Ferraro, a national deputy for the Coalición Cívica, took a stronger stance: "The admirer of Margaret Thatcher must not only remember but cannot ignore that the argument of 'self-determination' for the Malvinas population cannot be used to justify the violation of our country's territorial integrity."
From within the government, officials quickly rallied to support Milei.
"What he said was that if Argentina became a serious country, the islanders would choose to be on our side rather than the other, for personal reasons," said Francos.
Defence Minister Luis Petri also defended the President, stating: "He did not speak solely of self-determination; he said that we will not relent in any forum or negotiation regarding our diplomatic claim."
Villarruel's event
Villarruel, who was reportedly not invited to the ceremony in Buenos Aires, flew south to Ushuaia to meet veterans from the conflict.
During her own speech, she called for a refreshed "process of Malvinas awareness" and demanded policies to protect the region's resources from "powers that plunder."
"The region is crucial for national and hemispheric defence. The security of the South Atlantic cannot be left in the hands of a power from outside the continent,” she said, meaning Britain.
Slamming the "illegal British presence" in the South Atlantic, she stressed: "We know and reaffirm that the only solution to the conflict with the United Kingdom is bilateral dialogue on sovereignty, but they refuse to engage."
– TIMES/NA/AFP
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