Argentina’s foreign minister confirmed Sunday that the government’s goal is to “stop” hydrocarbon operations near the Falkland Islands, escalating a decades-old territorial dispute as a major offshore oil project prepares to begin extraction.
In an interview with Argentina’s La NaciĂłn, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno elaborated on measures announced Thursday by President Javier Milei, which include sanctions on oil companies operating in or near the islands and the establishment of a new military base in Tierra del Fuego province.
“The goal is to stop the beginning of oil and gas extraction,” Quirno said, according to the interview, speaking just days after Milei’s announcement.
The moves come as the “Sea Lion” project—a joint British-Israeli offshore development located about 140 miles north of the Falklands—plans to start its first oil operations in early 2028, according to one of the companies involved.
Quirno pointed to a decades-old United Nations resolution urging both Argentina and the United Kingdom to avoid unilateral actions, including natural resource exploitation, while the sovereignty dispute remains unresolved. Milei cited the same resolution last week, suggesting it could derail the Sea Lion project.
“What we hope is that friendly countries will support the view that exploitation violates the U.N. resolution,” Quirno said.
Sanctions and Diplomatic Push
Quirno said Argentina’s Foreign Ministry would be responsible for imposing any sanctions on oil companies operating near the Falklands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas Islands. He added that Argentina has already sent formal protest letters to the companies involved—identified as Navitas and Rockhopper—as well as to the ambassadors of Israel and the United Kingdom.
“This didn’t happen overnight,” Quirno told La NaciĂłn. “It’s been a joint effort spanning several months. We’ve been working on this since Navitas and Rockhopper announced their final investment decision in December.”
The foreign minister emphasized that the government had been preparing its strategy for months, but accelerated its timeline after news of the oil project’s progress emerged days before Milei’s address. The announcement also followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement at the White House that Washington is “reviewing” its position on the Falklands.
Quirno reportedly said Argentina’s measures were independent of Trump’s remarks, noting that the government had been working on the plan well before the U.S. president’s comments.
National Identity and a ‘Solid Foundation’
Argentina has claimed the Falkland Islands for nearly 200 years—a position maintained by every Argentine government regardless of political ideology. The country fought a 74-day war with the United Kingdom in 1982 over the islands, ending in a catastrophic defeat for Buenos Aires.
The islands were uninhabited until British sailors arrived in the 1600s, and the current population is overwhelmingly ethnically British and Anglophone, having voted nearly unanimously to remain part of the United Kingdom in past referenda.
Despite historical failures, Quirno argued that the Milei administration’s approach rests on “solid foundations” that allow Argentina to design an “integrated strategy” in defending its claim.
“I have received calls from public companies operating in Argentina confirming their lack of support for hydrocarbon operations in the Falkland Islands,” Quirno said.
He warned that oil, financial, and insurance services would have to choose “whether to offer their services in Argentina within a stable regulatory framework or in a situation where there is a disputed territory and where the rules are fragile.”
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2026/09/07/argentine-foreign-minister-govts-goal-is-prevent-hydrocarbon-operations-falkland-islands/