Brazil & Southern Cone - October 2026

President Javier Milei’s rhetoric became increasingly nationalist in September as he revived Argentina’s longstanding sovereignty claim over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), which are administered by the UK. Milei has denied that this is just an opportunistic attempt to boost his popularity amid declining approval ratings, while his government has also taken action against companies that explore for oil and gas in the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands. Rather, Milei has attributed his recent focus on the sovereignty dispute to possible signals that his ally, US President Donald Trump, might revise the traditional US stance of neutrality over the dispute.

Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has only made occasional and relatively mild appeals to Argentine nationalist sentiment regarding the Falklands sovereignty dispute. He has even previously faced criticism for what has been interpreted as a relatively weak stance on Argentina’s claim over the islands. In January 2024 he had an amicable meeting in Davos, Switzerland, with the UK’s then foreign secretary (2023-2024) and former prime minister (2010-2016), David Cameron, who visited the Falkland Islands the following month – a move that Milei did not forcefully condemn in public. Then, in April 2025, during the anniversary of Argentina’s failed 1982 invasion of the British overseas territory, Milei said that he hoped that the residents of the islands might one day vote to be Argentine, which the opposition criticised as an indirect recognition of the 2013 referendum by Falkland Islanders to remain a UK territory.

But now Milei’s rhetoric has shifted dramatically. On 3 September Milei gave an address to the nation in which he reasserted Argentina’s sovereignty claim, saying that the British occupied the islands in 1833, expelled Argentine authorities, and established a “colonial situation that remains until today”. Later in the speech, Milei expressed optimism that “winds of change are blowing around the world in favour of our claim” and said that the US is revaluating its historically neutral position on the Falklands dispute, which has in practice benefitted the maintenance of the islands as a British territory. Milei’s apparent optimism over potential US support came after a comment by Trump on 31 August in which he suggested that the US might review its support for the British position.

The day after Milei’s address, the government launched sanction procedures against 45 individuals and companies, on the grounds that they were allegedly violating Argentine law by participating in oil and gas exploration near the Falkland Islands. On 8 September the government initiated sanction procedures against 15 other firms and individuals involved in offshore oil and gas exploration. The government then submitted a bill to congress on 17 September which proposes toughening sanctions on companies and individuals that carry out hydrocarbon activities “illegally on [Argentina’s] continental shelf”.  

Among the main targets of the Argentine government’s bill are British company Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum, which are jointly exploring the Sea Lion offshore oilfield north of the Falkland Islands. On 16 September a federal court in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province also issued an order for Rockhopper and Navitas to suspend the Sea Lion oil project. The companies have insisted that they hold valid licences from the government of the Falkland Islands and do not plan to halt their operations. Indeed, the Falkland Islands government made a defiant response to the Argentine pressure by announcing on 21 September the extension of all oil exploration licences for at least another five years.

UK response

After Milei’s 3 September address, UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband posted on X that the Falkland Islands “are British and will remain so because that is the overwhelming position of the Islanders”. Meanwhile UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting also took to social media to argue that Milei’s statement “tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands”, possibly suggesting that the nationalist stance could be an attempt to boost Milei’s domestic popularity ahead of a potential re-election bid in next year’s presidential election.