Argentine President Javier Milei said Monday that his country's alliance with the United States government is the "key" to reclaiming the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas. He also blamed Vice President Victoria Villarruel for causing tension with the British government over remarks she made on the issue.
Milei told Radio Mitre that the United States had changed its strategic view of the world and now looks at the region from a political perspective, needing a reliable ally along the route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He said Argentina meets all those conditions and that this is the key that will allow the country to recover the Malvinas.
Argentina's sovereignty claim
Argentina lost control of the South Atlantic archipelago in 1833, when it passed into British hands. Milei said the Malvinas cause is not negotiable and that governments since the return of democracy have done the most toward the ultimate goal of returning the Malvinas, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime area to Argentina.
He said that, for the first time, the United Nations is forcing England to sit down for talks, and added that political opinion within England itself is divided, with some parts of the political spectrum believing the islands should be returned because they belong to Argentina.
Criticism of Villarruel
In the same interview, Milei criticized Villarruel, who on the eve of the 2026 World Cup semifinals had posted on social media that Argentina would face "pirate usurpers" and "invaders," linking the match to the Malvinas conflict.
Milei acknowledged that Villarruel's comments generated some tension in London and that there was some communication with the country as a result. He made the remark while expressing irritation at Villarruel's intervention on the issue, days after the vice president had suggested he suffers from mental health problems.
Milei, who ran on the same ticket as Villarruel in the 2023 election and is now her political enemy, said she is inconsequential within the government and that everyone knows she is an opponent.
Sea Lion oil project
Milei also said he was aware of the Sea Lion hydrocarbon production project, being developed by British and Israeli companies in a maritime area near the Malvinas that Argentina claims. He said Argentina has made the relevant claims and that the matter is being discussed diplomatically.
He said Argentina is an ally of the United States and Israel, but that Sea Lion is a private company, and that in a serious country there is no interference in the private sector.
