He only meddled in such territorial renunciation. A recent "Open Letter to the Citizens of Tierra del Fuego," signed by Governor Gustavo Melella, has become an exercise in political sincerity of institutional gravity . Because in an attempt to align Tierra del Fuego society in his favor and against the national government in the electoral contest, the president has revealed a vision of the province as narrow as it is dangerous , and a clear abdication of the responsibility his office demands. The question, then, is unavoidable: Who is really governing Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and the South Atlantic Islands?

The Governor refers to his jurisdiction simply as "our island." This choice of words is not a stylistic error; it is a conceptual renunciation. It erases with a stroke of the pen the bicontinental character of the province, ignoring Argentine Antarctica, the Malvina Islands, the South Sandwich Islands, South Georgia, other islands and archipelagos, and the vast maritime spaces of the South Atlantic that constitute the heart of Argentina's sovereign claim . A governor of the nation's southernmost and most geopolitically strategic province cannot afford such geographic and constitutional amnesia.

Sovereign desertion

This reduced geography is reflected in a clear irresponsibility of government that covers only a portion of its mandate, which has generated a forceful criticism from Dr. César Lerena , who bluntly demands the governor: "Put some balls. You are not managing more than a small area of your entire province."

The actions, or rather inaction, of the Melella government on sovereignty issues demonstrate the magnitude of this defection:

1. Submission to LATAM for the Malvinas Argentinas Airport

The LATAM case is a sovereignty scandal in Tierra del Fuego. Faced with the airline's refusal to recognize the official name of Ushuaia International Airport, "Malvinas Argentinas," and its obedience to British colonial impositions, the provincial government has come to a standstill. Lerena harshly criticizes this inaction, which is "unworthy of his office," especially when the same airline designates the airport in the usurped islands as "Mount Pleasant." The lukewarm provincial response has consolidated a "colonial victory on Argentine soil."

2. Oil: Concession to a sanctioned British company

Even worse is the complicity in allowing the British oil company Harbour Energy —sanctioned for violating National Law No. 26,659 (Pino Solanas Law) by operating illegally in the Malvinas Islands— to join the Southern Marine Basin 1 (CMA-1) oil consortium , falsifying information clearly known to him and his cabinet and thus having it approved by law by the Fuegian Legislature . This goes beyond an administrative error; it is a direct attack on the constitutional mandate to defend sovereignty . Opening the doors to a company that has profited from the appropriation of Argentine natural resources is a signal that undermines the Malvinas claim at the international level.

3. The British Capital Radar in Tolhuin

Finally, the installation of the LeoLabs British-owned radar in Tolhuin, with the complicity of the Melella government, completes a picture of vulnerability . The device, capable of tracking hypersonic missiles and capable of dual use, reportedly represents a real risk to national security and a new act of violation of Argentine sovereignty . By facilitating the installation of an asset with strategic military potential by countries of the "Five Eyes" alliance in such a sensitive location, Melella demonstrated not only an alarming lack of awareness of national security and geopolitics, but also a vocation to serve Anglo-American interests .

Sovereignty Is Not Negotiable: It Is a Government Action

Melella's letter , focused on the struggle for "adjustment," does nothing but demonstrate a government decision that clearly renounces sovereignty . A governor who reduces his province to an "island" and is incapable of defending the name of his airport, while facilitating the operation of oil companies that violate sovereignty and a radar with purposes contrary to the national interest in the territory he governs, lacks the stature necessary to lead Argentina's newest and most emblematic province .

The Governor's insincerity in speaking only of the "island" is evidence that his vision of government does not encompass the entirety of his jurisdiction.

The province of Tierra del Fuego demands a leader who will not limit himself to administering the continental island sector, but will assume with unwavering determination and decisive action the governance of the bicontinental territory entrusted to him by the Constitution.

It is clear that sovereignty is not defended with campaign words, but with dignity and firmness in every act of government.