MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cuban worker in Falklands/Malvinas granted Argentine residence

“We Grant Rights, We Build #Sovereignty,” Carignano said on Twitter

Argentine immigration authorities Wednesday granted residence to Cuban migrant Yamila Socorro Molina, who lives in the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, it was reported in Buenos Aires. Migrations Director Florencia Carignano said it was a “historical precedent.”

 “I can assure the Malvinas are Argentine,” Molina was quoted as saying. “I made this decision because I have to regularize myself before Argentina because it is the right thing to do. I wanted to be in line with the Argentine immigration legislation,” she added. Molina arrived Wednesday in Buenos Aires from the Islands en route to Havana to visit her family. Molina moved in 2019 to the Islands, where she works as a hydroponics technician. After her stay in Cuba, she plans to return to her workplace.

• Histórico: Yamila Socorro Molina, es cubana, vive en nuestras #IslasMalvinas y con un gran orgullo @Migraciones_AR le otorgó la residencia argentina pic.twitter.com/N1vpcfMwum

— Florencia Carignano (@florcarignanook) July 19, 2023

“We Grant Rights, We Build #Sovereignty,” Carignano posted on her Twitter account after meeting with Molina at her office. The official then argued that the measure would help “consolidate the sovereignty of our country over the territory of the Malvinas.”

“Consolidating the sovereignty of our country over the territory of the Malvinas is a challenge that we must assume and from Migrations, with these actions, we put the mandate of the National Constitution at the forefront of these challenges”, Carignano explained.

”There are 86 nationalities (living on the islands). When you ask them what continent they live on they don't say South America, they say the South Atlantic. These are things that shock you as a Latino,” said Molina.