MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei wants Islanders to want to be Argentine

Sovereignty is an Orwellian concept under which politicians have mascaraded their dirty business, Milei argued

Argentine President Javier Milei insisted Wednesday during the main Malvinas War Veterans' Day ceremony that his government would work to turn his country into a serious one so that the people of the Falkland Islands would want to be a part of it.

Speaking at the cenotaph remembering the 649 combatants fallen during the 1982 conflict in the Retiro neighborhood in Buenos Aires, the head of State criticized the political “caste” and Kirchnerism for weakening Argentina's sovereignty claim over the islands through corruption, incompetence, and poor economic, diplomatic, and military decisions.
Instead, Argentina should entice the people of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands to choose to join Argentina voluntarily, rather than through force or persuasion, he argued. In his view, true sovereignty comes from a free, prosperous nation with a high GDP per capita, not from an overbearing state.
Milei also emphasized the need for robust Armed Forces to defend Argentina's territory and regain international respect, rejecting past disarmament and demonization of the military.
He outlined his vision of Argentina rising materially and spiritually by embracing freedom, open trade, and a foreign policy aligned with free nations, making it an attractive “Argentine dream” for the world.

Milei's full speech:

“Forty-three years after the beginning of the Malvinas War, we gather again as a nation to commemorate our veterans and fallen in combat, under the proud gaze of their families, to whom I also extend this homage.

Today, we remember those Heroes who gave their lives for the Homeland, who are part of the pantheon of those who forged our history through their sacrifice. Today, we honor them by reaffirming, with genuine determination, the claim for Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands, as well as the surrounding maritime areas.

Unfortunately, during the last decades, our sovereign claim for the islands has been harmed, directly or indirectly, by the economic and diplomatic decisions of the political caste.

No one can take seriously the claim of a nation whose leadership is known in the world for its corruption and incompetence and for driving Argentina into the arms of the world's scum. Whoever systematically impoverishes its soil and makes common cause with dictators and dictatorships enters any diplomatic negotiation from a position of disadvantage. Then, if we add to that the disarmament and deliberate demonization of the Armed Forces, we had the perfect recipe for the Malvinas Islands to remain forever in foreign hands.

The first step we must take, then, is to rise as a country in every sense, both materially and spiritually, and regain the place in the international community that we should never have lost. And there is no other way to do this than by applying the ideas of freedom, both within our borders and outward, opening ourselves to international trade and adopting a foreign policy aligned with free nations.

This is the first government in a long time that understands that a sovereign country must be, first and foremost, a prosperous country. Only then can we take the second step: dignify our Armed Forces through the necessary investments, something only within the reach of a prosperous nation. To grow is in vain if public spending is not reordered, strengthening those areas in which the State should occupy itself and eliminating those that are superfluous, because when the State arrogates to itself tasks that are not its responsibility, it is always to the detriment of essential functions. Even though the political caste tried to convince us otherwise for decades, Argentina needs a robust Armed Forces. They are necessary to defend our vast territory from potential threats in a global context of growing uncertainty.

They are also indispensable in any diplomatic discussion. History is implacable: a strong country is a respected country. This is not to say that might makes right, but neither can foreign policy be conducted from a naïve and childish idealism.

For us, the Armed Forces are a source of pride. We have put an end to the time when they were looked down upon. Proof of this is that, on July 9 last year, for the first time, more than 2,000 of our veterans led the military parade in the Independence Day ceremony before a proud and grateful crowd for their actions in defense of the homeland.

For this reason, we have also just issued a decree that instructs the Ministry of Defense to recognize the rank of reserve second lieutenant to the personnel of soldiers aspiring to become reserve officers and veterans of the Malvinas War. This rank would have corresponded to them once their military service had been completed, but it was truncated because they were discharged directly after the end of the war.

It is, no more and no less, about settling a debt with these heroes, which has been systematically ignored for 43 years by successive governments and which we intend to rectify once and for all.

Without all of the above, any function of sovereignty loses meaning. Sovereignty does not mean that the State has many companies, or that it finances the film industry, or fourth-rate recitals, or similar things. Believing that the larger the State, the greater the sovereignty is an Orwellian concept through which politics has tried, throughout history, to hide its dirty business, and the result is a poor people enslaved by an omnipresent State.

We, on the other hand, have come to recover this word, which until recently was kidnapped, to give it the meaning it truly deserves. A sovereign people is a flourishing, thriving, respectable, and, above all, proud of its Armed Forces. A nation like the one that the generation of '80 knew how to raise and that, after a century of humiliation, we are rebuilding.

As I have already said on other occasions, we are not here to apply extravagant recipes but to retake those formulas that made us successful.

And when it comes to sovereignty over the Malvinas, we have always made it clear that the most important vote of all is the one made with our feet. We hope that the Malvinas people will one day decide to vote with their feet for us. That is why we seek to make Argentina such a power that they will prefer to be Argentines and that we will not even need dissuasion or convincing to achieve it.

That is why we have embarked on the liberating path we are treading, so that Argentina may be the freest country in the world, once again have the highest GDP per capita in the world, and so that all the citizens of the world may fantasize about the Argentine dream. That is what this government understands by sovereignty. It is the yardstick by which we measure ourselves, and we are not satisfied with less.

To conclude, on this second April 2 that falls to me as President, I would like to insist once again on our unwavering claim for the Malvinas Islands, reinforcing our commitment to exhaust all diplomatic resources within our reach so that they may return to Argentine hands.

Finally, to the veterans, their families, and all those who wear the uniform in defense of the homeland, I reiterate my eternal gratitude on behalf of all Argentines.

May God bless the Argentine Republic, may the forces of heaven be with us! Long live freedom, damn it! Thank you very, very much!

Long live the Homeland!”