In an opinion column published in El Diario Ar , titled “ The return of the Foradori-Duncan agreement: how to learn from the shortcomings of the Macri government on the Malvinas?” ” ; Mayor Martín Pérez warns that the national government is moving to renew the policies of handing over sovereignty that former president Mauricio Macri launched in September 2016, in favor of British interests in the Malvinas Islands. The starting point is the “cooperation” plan with Great Britain that President Javier Milei proposed in Davos.
The opinion of Mayor Martín Pérez
“ President Milei met with British Foreign Minister David Cameron , interested in recovering “ the roadmap” that the Foradori-Duncan agreement established during the Macri presidency , which dismantles political and diplomatic instruments that Argentina had obtained to escalate its claim for sovereignty over the islands.
In his recent visit and participation in the Davos summit , President Javier Milei took the opportunity to have a bilateral meeting with the British Chancellor – and former Prime Minister – David Cameron .
The meeting was officially announced as an instance that served to commit to putting the Malvinas issue on the agenda between both parties. However, the United Kingdom came out to differentiate itself through a statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which it clarified that sovereignty on the islands is not a priority on the bilateral agenda with our country.
From this first contact between President Milei and the United Kingdom, what truly interests us as Argentines, Fuegians and Rio Grande do Sul residents is to begin to concretely know the implications that the international policy of the new government may have in relation to our province, our Argentine sea and, of course, to our Malvinas Islands.
Although there are no formalized measures, Everything indicates that the intentions of the English Chancellor David Cameron are to recover “the road map” that the Foradori-Duncan agreement established during the presidency of Mauricio Macri .
Said agreement, which we resisted at the time from our place in the National Congress, sought to dismantle the political and diplomatic instruments that Argentina had obtained to escalate our claim to sovereignty, which went from being national to becoming a Latin American cause and global.
The diplomatic consequences of the signing of the Foradori-Duncan were immediate: a firm position in relation to the Malvinas could not be expected from our neighboring countries if the Argentine Foreign Ministry itself failed to denounce or reject measures to the detriment of our position in the bilateral relationship with Great Britain. This translated into a gradual relaxation of sanctions on the British colonial economy in the South Atlantic, reaching its peak with the inauguration of a new air route that connected São Paulo (Brazil) with the Islands through a stopover in the province of Córdoba. These flights sought, among other things, to facilitate the occupation by providing access to and reducing the cost of food needed by the British military base in the Malvinas.In exchange for “removing obstacles to the development of the Islands” – as the Foradori-Duncan text said – the United Kingdom promised the then Macri government access to British financial markets and later, when the Argentine economy began to falter In May 2018, giving the green light to the IMF board of directors of what later became the famous loan of more than 50 billion dollars.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent deactivation of the Foradori-Duncan in 2023 once again made the British occupation of the Islands more expensive, forcing the British to make flights from England's alternative route, Ascension Island to finally arrive to Malvinas.
Returning to Milei in Davos , when he was asked the reasons for the meeting with the British Chancellor, the president stated that his objective was for the United Kingdom to support him in the IMF, to increase British investments in Argentina and to begin - as we stated previously- an agenda in relation to Malvinas.
Given the President's statements, we cannot help but be alerted to see that everything indicates that we are on the eve of a demalvinization process similar to that of the 2015-2019 period. We still have time to not repeat mistakes. For this, if the President and his team want to contribute to the consolidation of the Malvinas Cause as a State policy and not give up sovereignty in the South Atlantic, there are four axes that must be especially addressed.
The first, to avoid the diplomatic impact of a new 180-degree turn by the Argentine Foreign Ministry in the face of an issue as strategic as our demand for the definitive recovery of the Malvinas. Milestones such as the unprecedented recognition of the sovereignty dispute by the European Union in the joint statement made with CELAC in July 2023, could fade if the current government once again establishes a weak and changing foreign policy that oscillates between making the Malvinas a fair priority and a well-deserved state policy or a bargaining chip for financing. ephemeral.
Secondly, and given the weakness of Argentina at the international level due to internal inconsistencies, it is essential not to lose the vocation of being a relevant actor in the South Atlantic in order to exercise full sovereignty over our natural resources. If not, By default, it will be contributing to illegal British fishing in the Malvinas and permits for off-shore exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons and minerals. In this regard, the construction of a port in the city of Río Grande – the closest to Puerto Argentino – is fundamental as it is the missing piece to be able to project the great productive and logistical capacity of our city to the national economic development in the South Atlantic.
As a third instance, prioritize our positioning and national projection in Antarctica, guaranteeing the continuity of medium-term projects such as the completion of the landing strip and the enhancement of the Petrel Base.
