Argentina has lashed out over restrictions on fishing and navigation imposed on the seas around the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands government announced in February that a no take zone would see an extra 166,000 km2 added, amounting to an area more than eight times the size of Wales.
It was hailed as a positive step towards making fisheries in the region more sustainable, with 449,000 km2 or 36 percent of the islands’ waters totally closed to all fishing activity.
Argentine deputy Gustavo Pulti has since demanded the national government repudiate the move which he argued is in breach of UN provisions that he said mean Great Britain has to deal with the question of sovereignty over the islands.
The former mayor of Mar del Plata took aim at Argentine president Javier Milei for not doing enough to pursue Argentina’s claim over the Falklands.
Mr Pulti, in remarks reported by Argentine news website La Capital Mar de Plata, said: “David Cameron, who went to Malvinas to say that he was not going to discuss sovereignty 48 days ago, did not care about the 649 soldiers who died in the Malvinas War; he did not care about the 1960 United Nations resolution and much less about the 1965 resolution, which states that Britain must sit down to discuss the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands with Argentina.”
He added: “That is what we are used to, but not to a president and a foreign minister who don’t claim our sovereignty.”
British Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron has said previously that the sovereignty question is not up for discussion.
Mr Pulti accused Mr Milei of committing a “serious and flagrant” transgression in not pursuing the issue and warned it could open the door to impeachment proceedings.
It comes as Argentina last week formally requested to join NATO as a global partner, a status which would clear the way for greater political and security cooperation at a time when the right-wing government of Mr Milei seeks to boost ties with Western powers and attract investment.
The request came as NATO’s Deputy General Secretary Mircea Geoana held talks in Brussels on regional security challenges with visiting Argentine Defence Minister Luis Petri.
Mr Geona said: “Argentina plays an important role in Latin America. Closer political and practical cooperation could benefit us both.”
Mr Milei has been pushing a radical libertarian agenda aimed at reversing years of protectionist trade measures, overspending and crippling international debt which have plunged his country’s economy into a tailspin.
Over his past four months as president, Mr Milei has reshaped Argentina’s foreign policy to one of almost unconditional support for the United States — part of an effort to return Argentina to prominence in the global economy after past administrations allowed relations with Washington and European allies to wither.
Julio Burdman, Professor of Geopolitics at the University of Buenos Aires, is reported to have told a recent meeting that closer ties with the US could help Argentina puruse its Falklands sovereignty claim.
He is reported to have said the reason why Argentina is claiming the the sea, the Falkland Islands and Antarctica is because the country developed the region.
Professor Burdman added: “[Argentina] is the one that populated it, created the cities, brought a society – not the British, nor the military, nor the diplomats of the United Nations.”
Asked about Buenos Aires’ position on the Falklands question, he said if there is something good about Mr Milei’s government, it is that it is quite innovative.
He said: “It says that the way to change something in Malvinas is through the United States, not through an alliance with Latin American countries or through claims in the United Nations. The United States is the one making the moves, I agree with that part of it.”
The professor continued: “I’m not so sure what needs to be done, but I do believe that if the United States has a say in Malvinas, something can change.
“Obviously, we need it to have a say in our favour, but it is the real invisible actor in the whole Malvinas and South Atlantic issue.”
Buenos Aires has long maintained that the islands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, were rightfully inherited from the Spanish Crown in the 1800s.
Britain’s claim has rested on the idea of self-determination and that the people who inhabit the island want to be governed by the UK.
