MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Argentina never created conditions for Falkland Islanders to become Argentine citizens”, lawmaker Milei

Javier Milei, a libertarian politician, economics professor who is shaking the Argentine political establishment or “political cast”, as he calls both the ruling and opposition coalitions

“Malvinas sovereignty negotiations are going to be very long. it's a complicated issue”, and although a territorial claim, “Argentina never created the conditions for Falkland Islanders to want to become Argentine citizens”, said Javier Milei, an Argentine member of the Lower House who was the sensation of last October's midterm election

Brashly independent, libertarian, an outsider and caustic critic of what he defines as the “Argentine political cast”, which costs taxpayers 5% of the country's GDP, --and with no results--, and who has pledged to eliminate the Central bank, --which has been used by corrupt politicians to print money and keep their privileges--, managed to surprise the strongly established political system by becoming the third force in the city of Buenos Aires with 13,7% of cast votes.

His newly created party, “Freedom advances”, according to opinion polls has not ceased to grow, and has the following of an electorate fed up with Argentine politics, --ruling and opposition coalitions and their “socialists” policies, that do not deliver to tax payers--. He is a consummate radio host, always willing to give his opinion and debate with opponents, forecasting that if Argentina, one of the richest countries in the world, continues on the path of either the ruling or opposition coalitions, will end as a gigantic slum, “villa miseria”.

He is 50, an economics professor, an admirer of the Austrian economics school of Frederick Hayek and to express his despise of the political system privileges, raffles his monthly stipend, since “the job I was elected for is to serve the people, not to collect parliamentary expenses or allowances”

Milei declares he lives from conferences, as an economics advisor and professor and is also employed by the Grupo America, belonging to Eduardo Eunerkian OBE, the Argentine/Armenian born millionaire who financed the Argentine military cemetery at Darwin, and trips of the next of kin.

Precisely this month and coincidence with the start of the South Atlantic conflict, he was asked about the Falklands/Malvinas dispute.

“The Malvinas situation is an issue linked to a territorial claim, since it has to do with geography. These are the conditions under which rights are built. However that is not the methodology. Besides, Argentina never created the conditions for the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands to want to become Argentines. Therefore it is an extremely complicated situation, in which Argentina committed all possible errors, resulting in a stuck and muddy situation. So now it is a counter-factual scenario because of all the errors. It is most complicated”

Milei added, “if we want the Islands to return and become part of Argentina some day, is will mean a long, very long negotiation in which Argentina must propose something interesting. And Argentina is not an interesting country, if its own people are choosing to leave the country,” concluded the lawmaker whose party is identified with the head of a lion and mane, and begins his speeches, “let me listen the lions roaring”