President Javier Milei's lightning visit to Ushuaia, conceived as the starting point of a key electoral tour, crashed into a wall of social rejection that neutralized his campaign and exposed the deep rift between the Libertarian government and the strategic interests of Tierra del Fuego.

The president , who arrived amid scandals over the threat of ceding sovereignty to the United States and the destruction of local industry, was received with the same rejection he managed to conceive last April, when he was declared "persona non grata" by the Deliberative Council of Ushuaia, and which five months later forced him to suspend his central electoral event in support of his candidates for senators and deputies .

A display of caste and massive rejection

The arrival of Milei and her entourage —including her sister Karina and figures such as Lilia Lemoine — was carried out with a pharaonic deployment and a pharaonic operational cost: three Air Force planes, with an expenditure exceeding 300 thousand dollars, highlighting the contradiction between her "anti-caste" discourse and the use of the state apparatus for partisan purposes.

However, the air deployment was no match for the opposition on the ground. Unions, professional associations (UOM, teachers, state employees), and residents mobilized en masse under the slogan "Milei, you are not welcome," besieging downtown Ushuaia. This wave of social rejection forced presidential security to suspend the main campaign walk.

Instead of the planned mass event, the president was barely able to improvise a two-minute speech through a megaphone in front of a few dozen supporters at the Albatros Hotel, while the Gendarmerie contained clashes between his supporters and protesters . The extremely low support and high logistical cost of the visit turned it into an electoral setback. "Three percent!" people shouted at the president, referring to the controversial commissions investigating corruption allegations.

The offense to sovereignty: Malvinas and the US Base

The rejection in Ushuaia was not only economic, but deeply identity-based. Tierra del Fuego, birthplace of the Malvinas protests and gateway to Antarctica, perceived Milei's visit as a direct affront to its symbolic and geopolitical capital.

The rejection was exacerbated by revelations about the "fine print" of the financial agreement with the US Treasury, which compromises sovereignty by including the possibility of a US military presence at the Ushuaia Integrated Naval Base . This pact, initially denied by Defense Minister Luis Petri but immediately confirmed by the official press, is seen in the far south as a betrayal of the Malvinas Cause, especially since the US is the United Kingdom's main ally.

Adding to this threat was the scandal of the week: Milei's greeting of the Kosovo president at the UN . This country, whose independence is not recognized by Argentina because it undermines the principle of territorial integrity, maintains troops training with the occupying British army in the Malvina Islands themselves. For Tierra del Fuego residents, Milei's stance is an unacceptable surrender that undermines the country's historic defense of its southern and Antarctic territories.

Industrial disaster and job losses

In addition to the geopolitical grievance, the discontent is rooted in the economic disaster the province is suffering . Milei's government has implemented policies that undermine the Industrial Promotion Regime , particularly with tariff measures that favor imports.

The protest was led by the Metalworkers' Union, teachers, and workers who had just witnessed the closure of Australtex , the province's last major textile factory, leaving hundreds of families homeless. In this context of imminent labor crisis, the president's visit, which sought electoral support, was seen as a provocation .

Milei's only friendly stop was at the Newsan plant, a symbol of Tierra del Fuego's industry . But even that gesture failed to mitigate the anger in the streets.

The Southern Fury forced Milei to return to Buenos Aires with a failed campaign . Tierra del Fuego society, historically sensitive to the defense of sovereignty and national production, demonstrated that the political cost of unconditional alignment with the United States and the sacrifice of local industry is too high to tolerate, marking a turning point in the crisis ravaging the libertarian regime.