Who could believe that Milei has suddenly transformed into a patriot, when just yesterday he was expressing admiration for Margaret Thatcher; he understood that the (illegal) British administrators have rights; he graciously accepted that the (implanted) islanders should decide their future; and his government has not, to date, made any claim or taken any legal action regarding the numerous violations by the British of our island and maritime territory and the exploitation of our resources? In other words, flagrantly violating the First Transitory Provision of the National Constitution and Law 24,543.

Its writers—naturally pro-British—as could be expected, have gone so far as to declare that “ the Malvinas are not and never were Argentine ” (Sabrina Ajmechet), ignoring Argentine rights, its enormous geopolitical and economic potential, and United Nations Resolutions 1514, 2065, 31/49, and especially the post-war Resolution 37/9 ( November 4, 1982). Some of its followers, like Fernando Iglesias, are rewarded with the ambassadorship to Brussels, who, in his book “The Malvinas Question” (2012), is attributed with having written: “ Any idea of Argentine sovereignty over the Malvina Islands is unacceptable to me (and) I advocate considering the self-determination of the Malvina Islanders ” (Senate, 2026). There are about twenty more statements contrary to Argentine rights, but curiously, the vast majority of them adhere to LLA. Of course, we don't know how they will mutate now -holding the paintbrush- after the white cloth displayed by the football players, after beating the English and, upon hearing the changing and bold opinion of their leader on the national network.

But, “let us break through the veil of mist that reigns over the Malvinas,” as the Marcha Patria (1940, José Tieri; Carlos Obligado) states. It is merely colonial smoke and mirrors, and the President's national address bears a striking resemblance to the declarations of Vice President Julio A. Roca in 1933, when he stated that Argentina was, “from an economic point of view, an integral part of the British Empire” upon signing the Roca-Runciman Pact; a statement considered a colonial humiliation by Lisandro de la Torre and others. Today, I would say of the United States and Israel. 

The ministers sitting at the President's rear guard are a Praetorian Guard with blanks: To accompany Milei, who claims to have " his future secured " (not that of all Argentinians) thanks to his work as President: The Minister of Economy who fails to provide the funds to develop strategic ports; allows the intervention in the Port of Ushuaia, and whose subordinates facilitate the operations of Chinese and other foreign capital in Argentine continental waters, discouraging national industry and its establishment along the coast with his economic policies. The Minister of Defense who reduces the operational capabilities of the Argentine Navy; fails to provide the financial resources to maintain a deterrent fleet and impoverishes the members of the armed forces. The Minister of Deregulation and Transformation who dismantles the State and promotes legislation that allows foreign ownership of land, even border areas; The Minister of Security fails to instruct the Naval Prefecture to control the foreign transport of illegal goods within the Exclusive Economic Zone and the equally illegal catches on the Argentine extended continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles. The Minister of Human Capital neglects to implement employment and settlement programs in Patagonia, the region with the lowest population density in the country, and ignores the growing unemployment throughout the nation, particularly in the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and the South Atlantic Islands. The Minister of Foreign Affairs ignores the extent of the United Kingdom's illegal activities in Argentine insular and maritime territory and neglects relations with our strategic neighbors: Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. We have no relations with Brazil; Chile is an excellent partner of the British; and relations with Uruguay are indifferent, yet it is the main port for unloading and transshipping illegal fishing in the Malvina Islands and on the high seas.

Let's move on. It's clear from what's been said that the President hasn't been motivated by a desire to assert Argentina's rights over the Malvina Islands and the surrounding waters; in fact, in his two and a half years in office, he's done the exact opposite. It seems his objective is to faithfully serve President Donald Trump's needs in pressuring the United Kingdom for its lack of support in the war against Iran and the control of the Strait of Hormuz, and, on the other hand, to improve his image with Argentinians who, with the 2027 elections approaching, see him as unpatriotic. This contrasts sharply with the majority of citizens who considered the victory against England and the national team players' chanting of "The Malvinas are Argentine" a significant achievement. Diego Armando Maradona would have said "the ball doesn't get dirty" in the face of a government that has been transgressing the purest national sentiments.

The person who drafted the message couldn't work miracles, and it's easy to understand that these were the objectives of the official broadcast; because Milei referred exclusively to the hydrocarbon issue, which will mean a very serious appropriation of Argentine resources by the United Kingdom, amounting to approximately 1.7 billion barrels of oil; but he omitted the serious damage to fishing caused by the environmental impact of oil exploitation without Argentine control; the serious environmental damage caused by fishing without Argentine control (see the cancellation in the Malvina Islands of the second Loligo squid fishing campaign).  and the economic and social consequences of the British Crown's appropriation of Argentine fishing resources, which on the one hand leads to the depletion of the ecosystem and, according to official figures from the illegal government of the Malvina Islands, " an average annual extraction - through 201 illegal licenses - of around 250,000 tons; that is to say, from 1976 to date, some 12.5 million tons of fishing resources have been caught in the Argentine waters of the Malvina Islands, whose estimated value amounts to approximately fifty billion dollars, without evaluating the final commercial profit; customs duties; capture and export duties and income taxes - among others - that have been evaded..." ( César Lerena "Fishing. Industry and Sovereignty", Ed. CESPEL, 2026 ).    

President Milei has omitted the fact that, apart from the explorations being carried out in Sea Lion by the Israeli company Navitas Petroleum and the British company Rockhopper Exploration, there are also foreign oil companies that have maintained direct and indirect links with the Malvina Islands, violating Law 26.659 (Solanas Law) and are carrying out   Offshore operations in the Southern Area within Argentina's Exclusive Economic Zone. It would be beneficial if they also reviewed the Environmental Impact Assessments—a copy-and-paste job—submitted, whose seismic studies—had they been conducted on-site—would have already caused serious damage to fishing. Damage for which the Norwegian government typically provides compensation.     

The lack of control is total. “TotalEnergy, according to information from “Agenda Malvinas” (4.9.2026), whitewashed its partner that operated in the Malvinas with whom they now extract oil from Tierra del Fuego… This is Harbour Energy, former partner of Rockhopper and the one that sold 65% of the assets that Navitas now owns.”  

At this point we have to ask ourselves: apart from the sanctions that should be applied to British companies, what will the Argentine government do with Israel, which Milei has considered a strategic ally and supported in the armed conflict it maintains in the Middle East and which appropriates our resources?

And what should be done about Spain, which recognized our independence and consequent sovereignty over the Malvina Islands, and which, in partnership with British island companies, is appropriating our fishing resources in the archipelagos? Here's an idea: Our Foreign Minister should simply call the Spanish ambassador to Argentina and demand that the Galician vessels withdraw from the Malvina Islands. Afterward, we should initiate the corresponding legal actions to recover the fishing resources they have appropriated without authorization from the relevant authority, in accordance with Law 24.922, in addition to imposing the appropriate fines.

Nothing has been done by Milei's government since it took office that foreshadowed this sudden and forceful decision regarding the invasion of the Malvinas; although insufficient, we will remind him that he must pressure his allies the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom, not to discuss a supposed dispute, but so that Argentina recovers full sovereignty over the archipelagos and the corresponding waters.

During this time, the government, despite having 1,639,900 km² of maritime and insular territory invaded by the United Kingdom—an area equivalent to almost the entire Argentine mainland—has no “hypothesis of conflict.” To this must be added “the imposition of a Security Council within the framework of the Shield of the Americas, which Milei and Presti signed…” ( National Studies Institute, September 4, 2026 ).       

Furthermore, the Foreign Ministry has deactivated the National Council for the Malvinas and its current Secretariat for the Malvinas .

She is a co-founder of the Argentina Global Foundation, which, together with the British Embassy and the Chevening Scholarship program (of the Foreign Office), launched the Future Leaders Programme Argentina in 2026. This training program for advanced students and young professionals includes workshops on international politics, which appears to be nothing more than an attempt to align Argentine professionals with British interests. Added to this is the British Embassy's "Get to Know Your Neighbors" program for young people; conveniently forgetting, a small detail on the part of the British, that the Malvina Islands are not neighbors, but an integral part of our territory. 

eldestapeweb.com

lanacion.com.ar

Argentina continues to authorize the import of vessels built in Spain. These are the same shipyards that supply vessels to Spanish companies fishing in the Malvina Islands and to Argentine companies with Spanish capital operating in the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone with authorization from the relevant authority. This same authority has just authorized the entry of Chinese squid fishing vessels for Argentine companies (?) and granted them permits to operate within Argentine waters. What will the Americans think about this?

On the other hand, the government maintains the intervention in the port of Ushuaia and lacks a strategic project aimed at reaffirming Argentina's presence in the southern part of the South Atlantic; the passage to the Pacific and Indian Oceans and access to Antarctica and, "The armed forces suspect that Milei's announcement is the prelude to leaving a Naval Base in Trump's hands" ( Augusto Taglioni, La PolíticaOnLine, 3.9.26 ); a Base "that began to be built in 2022 and was never intended to be shared with any foreign country" ( Jorge Taiana, 3.9.2026 ).   

The presence of US military and naval forces in the Paraná-Paraguay River and the Argentine Sea finds no other justification than outsourcing the control of our river and maritime jurisdiction to third countries, and coincides with the reduction of national naval forces.    

As we have already mentioned, Chinese, Spanish, British, Korean, and Taiwanese vessels are appropriating fishing resources originating from Argentina's Exclusive Economic Zone on the high seas, without any effective action from the national government to eradicate illegal fishing in the Southwest Atlantic. This causes serious economic, biological, and social harm to Argentina, despite existing legislation, and is an eloquent demonstration of the national government's disinterest in the severity of the damage caused ( Article 5 of Law 23.968; Article 2, section c of Law 24.543; Articles 4, 5d, 21e, 22, and 23b of Law 24.922). Furthermore, it weakens Argentine sovereignty in the South Atlantic and the Malvina Islands.

It may seem like a minor issue, but we cannot rule out that the lack of campaigns to increase fish consumption in Argentina - the lowest in Latin America and Africa, at 4.8 kg per capita/year - is aimed at discouraging Argentinians from having any concern for the sea and its resources.    

"Who here speaks to us of forgetting, of renunciation, of forgiveness? No land is more beloved in the vastness of the Fatherland. May our ideal break through the mantle of mists like a sun: The Argentine Malvinas in immortal dominion."

Dr. César Augusto Lerena

South Atlantic and Fishing Expert

President of the Center for Latin American Fisheries Studies (CESPEL)

cesarlerena.com.ar

4/9/2026