Argentina’s President Milei draws pushback over his Falklands War speech

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei on Wednesday marked the anniversary of his nation's failed 1982 attempt to forcibly wrest the Falkland Islands from Britain by expressing hope that the island’s residents may one day choose to be Argentine rather than British.

Milei's speech came as a surprise to many in Argentina, which still claims sovereignty over the British-controlled archipelago that it calls Las Malvinas despite the British victory. His comments were criticized as overly conciliatory by political rivals who argue that the island’s residents have no right to self-determination because they are not an Indigenous people.

"We hope for the Malvinenses (Falkland Islanders) to one day decide to vote for us with their feet," Milei said at a ceremony commemorating Argentina’s 74-day war over the South Atlantic territory that killed 649 Argentine service members and 255 British soldiers.

"That's why we seek to be a power, to the point that (the islanders) prefer to be Argentine."

The island's roughly 3,000 residents most recently voted to remain a British overseas territory in a 2013 referendum - a result rejected by then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a left-leaning populist who made Argentina's claims to Las Malvinas a centerpiece of her foreign policy.

As president and more recently vice-president over the last decade, Kirchner repeatedly condemned U.K. control over the islands as a colonial holdover and sought to press Britain to enter talks about the future of the territory that it has ruled since 1833.

On Wednesday, Kirchner and her political allies - ideological opponents of the right-wing president - castigated Milei for his accommodating approach to Britain.

"There is no self-determination after the occupation and expulsion,” former Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero wrote on social media platform X in reaction to Milei’s speech, accusing him of "surrendering" the nationalistic claims for which Argentines fought and died.

Even politicians from the center-right PRO party expressed confusion over Milei’s stance on an issue that long has forged a unifying sense of Argentine patriotism.

During Milei’s 2023 presidential campaign, the former TV pundit set off a firestorm by admitting that he idolized fellow libertarian Margaret Thatcher, the U.K. prime minister who dispatched troops to retake the Falklands after Argentina’s waning military dictatorship mounted its invasion.

Eager to quiet mounting controversy on Wednesday, Cabinet officials insisted that Milei’s remarks constituted no change of policy.

"Milei wasn’t just referring to self-determination, he was saying that we will not cease efforts at any table or forum," Defense Minister Luis Petri told local journalists who peppered him with questions from the memorial plaza after Milei’s speech.

The war’s 43rd anniversary also exposed tensions within the highest rungs of government. Victoria Villarruel, Milei’s vice-president and a fiery advocate for Argentina's military whose father fought in the 1982 war, flew over 2,800 kilometers (1,700) miles to Argentina’s chilly southernmost coast on Wednesday to lead a separate memorial ceremony.

Villarruel took the stage in Ushuaia - from which Argentine troops first set off to recapture the islands - to shouts of "Long live the homeland!” shortly after a local veteran affairs official delivered a speech condemning Milei's remarks on self-determination.

"Our country must define a clear and unambiguous policy of national defense," Villarruel said, her voice rising.