MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei declared persona non grata in Bariloche for his April 2 speech

Milei's April 2 speech was deemed as supportive of the Islanders' self-determination

The City Council of Bariloche in the Argentine province of Río Negro declared President Javier Milei “persona non grata” due to his April 2, 2025, speech, which was deem to be endorsing of the Falkland/Malvinas Islanders' self-determination and therefore detrimental to the country's sovereignty claim.

At the initiative of Peronist Councilman Leandro Costa Brutten, Milei was found by 8 votes to 3 to be “de-malvinizing Argentina.” The vote occurred during a session honoring 1982 War aviation ace Pablo Carballo as a Distinguished Citizen and declaring the Malvinas Museum soon to be opened of Municipal Interest. Local war veterans also criticized Milei, labeling him a “traitor to the homeland.”

Joining the Peronists' votes were the local parties Juntos Somos Río Negro (JSRN) and the Partido Unión y Libertad (PUL). Opposing the initiative were Samanta Etchenique of Juntos por el Cambio; María Coronado (PUL) and Facundo Villalba from Primero Río Negro, who left the session just before voting.

“Milei is de-malvinizing Argentina and promotes the self-determination of those who occupy by force a part of our country,” Costa Brutten pointed out in his speech.

The President argued that Argentina would recover the Islands when the local population wishes to assume Argentine nationality. “That is why we seek to be a power, to such an extent that they prefer to be Argentines, and it is not even necessary to use dissuasion or persuasion to achieve it,” Milei contended in a message that was construed as supporting the Islanders' self-determination.

Costa Brutten, of the Incluyendo Bariloche faction, which supported the presidential candidacy of Sergio Massa in 2023, also claimed that “Milei has in his office the photo of a murderer,” that of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He added that “the disarmament and deliberate demonization of the Armed Forces” was “the perfect recipe for the Malvinas Islands to remain forever in foreign hands” and maintained that Milei's statements contradict the country's historical claim while contributing to a “de-Malvinization” process.