Falklands, Argentine opposition demands information on alleged Argentina, UK, US, NATO understanding
Wednesday, July 16th 2025 – 10:55 UTC
Member of the Lower House, Roxana Monzon
Presidents Milei and Trump congratulating each other
Tierra del Fuego governor Gustavo Melella
A recent article published by The Economist, and reproduced by MP, indicating a secret military dialogue between Argentina and UK, with the backing of the President Trump administration, which could lead to a softening of President Javier Milei’s Argentine claim over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands in exchange for NATO military support, has triggered demands for answers in the Argentine Congress.
Roxana Monzón, a Lower House member, belonging to the main opposition party led by former president Cristina Fernandez, Union for Motherland, requested the Executive to report on the alleged existence of negotiations with the US and UK, which could result in a more Argentine flexible claim attitude towards the Falklands/Malvinas dispute in exchange for logistics and arms support for Argentina from NATO.
The request points to Defense minister Luis Petri and Foreign minister Gerardo Werthein based on the piece published this month by The Economist, mentioning a renewal of military attaches visits and president Milei’s close alignment with the Trump administration.
However, “a treaty of such characteristics not only requires the agreement from the Argentine congress, given its capacity to condition the country’s foreign policy, but also, above all, since it would represent a political and military alliance with a country that since 1833, has been illegally occupying our Malvinas Islands,” reads the demand for information.
Lawmaker Roxana Monzon warned that such agreements respond “to dogmatic positions and not to the national interest”, and pointed out that the alignment with the US is motivated by “geopolitical concerns in Antarctica and the South Atlantic, given the advance of other global powers in the region”
“In the event of an agreement this would include neighboring Chile and would give Argentina access to second hand Western weapons, while UK would obtain Argentina’s acceptance of London’s role in the South Atlantic”.
But insists Monzon, “the Malvinas cause is a permanent unwavering objective of all the Argentine people,” recalling the Transitory Dispositions in the Argentina Constitution regarding the Falklands.
Finally the opposition lawmaker demanded the Executive to render all the explanations on the situation to the House and called on other political groups to join the demand, “an alliance of these characteristics with the UK and NATO, is incomprehensible for all of us committed to the sovereignty of our usurped Islands”
In related news the governor of Tierra del Fuego province, Gustavo Melella has sent letters to the Argentine embassies in South Korea and Spain, and China warning those governments of consequences for the exploitation of natural resources in waters surrounding the Malvinas Islands
This is because the province of Tierra del Fuego under Argentine law also includes the Falklands and other South Atlantic islands.
In the letters sent by Melella and his Malvinas, South Atlantic and International affairs secretary Andres Dachary, companies and vessels from the above mentioned governments will face sanctions if illegally fishing in Malvinas waters, “which is our provincial jurisdiction”.
Dachary added that based on a recent agreement signed with the Argentine Coast Guard, “we now have the capacity to monitor actions in real time and thus traceability of fishing vessels activities in our jurisdictional waters”.
Governor Melella of Tierra del Fuego is one of the very few provincial governments which have remained relatively loyal to the now opposition Kirchner grouping and have been hit hard with fiscal measures, and thus the Falklands card is always on the table.
Nevertheless in the letter addressed to Beijing, Argentine points out that the vessels spotted fishing in Falklands’ waters “belong to the rebel province of Taiwan”, in a clear effort to please the “only one China policy” and not offed one of Argentina’ main trade partners.
However it must also be pointed out that since Milei named his new foreign minister Werthein, contrary to the initial rapprochement of Diana Mondino with David Lammy, the minister currently has some hard liners of past years in his team and apparently are dragging their feet on some previous agreements reached by Mondino and Lammy.
