By Eloi Passot
Published 51 minutes ago, updated 41 minutes ago
Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, November 19, 2023. LUIS ROBAYO / AFP
During his election campaign, the new Argentine president argued that “Argentina’s sovereignty” over this British archipelago was “non-negotiable.” In 1982, Argentina failed to reclaim it during the Falklands War.
Javier Milei’s positions have caused a lot of excitement. Argentina’s new ultra-liberal president, elected on November 20th with 55.95% of the vote, is an anti-abortion and climate skeptic. He proposes abolishing the central bank and replacing the peso with the dollar. He wants to privatize public companies and reduce the number of ministries to the bare minimum.
But one of his suggestions went almost unnoticed. Although he was only a candidate in the election campaign, Javier Milei reiterated that “Argentina’s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is non-negotiable.” A position that may seem extravagant, but in Argentina it is rather classic and consensual.
The Falkland Archipelago – known in English as the “Falklands Islands” – consists of two main islands and more than 750 smaller islands covering an area of 12,000 km2 and has a population of around 3,000. In 1833, British settlers expelled the Argentine settlers and established the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
In April 1982, the ruling military junta attempted to take control by force and declared war on the United Kingdom. Margaret Thatcher’s reaction earned the nickname “Iron Lady”: the British fleet was sent to the other end of the Atlantic. At the end of a three-month war that claimed 649 lives on the Argentine side and 258 on the British side (including three islanders), the Argentine army was defeated.
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“War is not a solution”
Since then, Argentine leaders have consistently disputed British sovereignty over the archipelago, from the radical Raúl Alfonsin (1983-1989) to Alberto Fernandez (2019-2023), including the Peronist Cristina Kirchner (2007-2015). In 2012, thirty years after the war, the Argentine parliament wanted to reaffirm its claims to the archipelago with the Ushuaïa Declaration. In reality, Javier Milei’s campaign proposal represented a classic diplomatic position.
“There is a national consensus on this issue because the Falklands War is an Argentine trauma,” explains Christophe Ventura, Latin America specialist and research director at IRIS, the Institute for International and Strategic Relations. “All political leaders stand on this line, it goes without saying, it’s an identity characteristic,” the researcher continues, “it’s a bit like supporting the football team.”
Last September, in the middle of the presidential election campaign, he declared on television: “Argentina’s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is non-negotiable.” The Falkland Islands are Argentine. (…) Now we have to see how we get them back.” It is clear that the option of war is not a solution.” In another television interview he said: “We had a war – which we lost – and now “We must do everything we can to win back the islands through diplomatic channels.”
Also read: Falklands War: 40 years ago, Argentine soldiers made a surprise landing
London remains inflexible
Specifically, Javier Milei proposes negotiating with the United Kingdom a solution comparable to that of Hong Kong: the territory was a British colony since 1841 and was returned to China in 1997. The Argentine president admits that the opinions of the people living on these islands must also be taken into account, which “cannot be ignored”.
However, in 2013, 99.8% of Saint-Malo’s 3,000 residents voted in a referendum to retain its status as a British overseas territory. “The Falkland Islands are British. It is non-negotiable and undeniable, warned UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps.” The British government regularly reiterates that negotiations are not possible on this issue.