MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Senate passes property bill after dropping two key chapters

La Libertad Avanza had removed on Wednesday the chapter easing rural land purchases by foreigners, following opposition from several allied governors

Argentina's Senate approved in the early hours of Friday, by 37 votes to 33, the Inviolability of Private Property bill promoted by Deregulation Minister Federico Sturzenegger, after the governing bloc withdrew the two chapters that drew the most resistance. The text now goes to the Chamber of Deputies.

The session ran more than eleven hours and there were no abstentions. La Libertad Avanza had removed on Wednesday the chapter easing rural land purchases by foreigners, following opposition from several allied governors. Minutes before the vote it also gave way on the reform of the Fire Management Law, having found it lacked the votes.

That law bars any change of use for 60 years on native or planted forests, wetlands and protected areas affected by fires, whether accidental or deliberate, and for 30 years on farmland, prairies, grasslands and scrub. The reform would have removed those bans and kept the restriction only for native forests. Senator Edith Terenzi, who chairs the Environment Committee, said the chapter was regressive and contravened the Escazú Agreement.

The approved text retains the reforms on evictions, expropriations and the Real Estate Property Registry. On evictions it introduces an expedited procedure, early restitution of a property where the claimed right appears plausible, and electronic service of notifications. On expropriations it establishes that public utility must be interpreted restrictively and meet criteria of suitability, necessity and proportionality, and sets as the reference for valuing an asset the moment immediately before any state action that might alter its price.

The governing bloc's leader, Patricia Bullrich, defended the bill as a guarantee for those who own a home, a business or a farm. Peronist senators sought to return the bill to committee, a motion rejected by 38 votes to 31. Senator Marcelo Lewandowski counted 17 modifications to the committee report since it was signed and criticized the handling of the process; Martín Soria argued the expropriations chapter aims to make any future attempt to recover privatized companies more costly.

At the start of the session, Senator Juliana Di Tullio asked that governing-party legislator Joaquín Benegas Lynch recuse himself, on the grounds that he owns Glocal Terra, a firm engaged in farm management and advising buyers. The senator rejected the request, arguing that the Public Ethics Law requires a direct and singular interest rather than a benefit shared across an entire sector. Bullrich backed that position.

The chamber also denied remote participation requested by Senator Anabel Fernández Sagasti, who is in advanced pregnancy, and by Radical senator Flavio Fama, recovering from surgery. Both requests were referred to the Constitutional Affairs Committee on a motion by Bullrich, approved by a show of hands.

Bartolomé Abdala presided over the session because Vice President Victoria Villarruel was acting head of the executive during Javier Milei's trip to Ecuador. There were incidents outside Congress during the demonstration called against the bill.