MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine government says the Ushuaia naval base will monitor resources and sovereignty

Presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier said at the Casa Rosada that the facility will take on logistical functions and serve as a strategic point for Argentina's projection into the South Atlantic

Argentina's government said on Tuesday that the integrated naval base it plans in Ushuaia will allow it to monitor and control natural resources and sovereignty in the South Atlantic, and announced it will file further complaints against companies exploring for or extracting hydrocarbons without Argentine authorization in waters near the Falklands.

Presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier said at the Casa Rosada that the facility will take on logistical functions and serve as a strategic point for Argentina's projection into the South Atlantic. Days earlier, the same spokesman had stressed that the base is not military in character and will operate as a logistics hub providing operational and scientific support for projection toward Antarctica.

Ravier said the facility will strengthen naval and air protection with a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft and the F-16 fighters bought from Denmark, and that commercial and civilian docks will be built to support economic activity in the region. He also said companies linked to exploration in the disputed area will not be able to contract with the Argentine state, join the large investment incentive regime, receive tax benefits or take part in Vaca Muerta, the country's main unconventional field, located in Neuquén province.

Work began in 2022, under Alberto Fernández's government, and has been all but halted since. It stands at 9.13% physical completion, consisting of a concrete slab of some 2,500 square meters within a 38-hectare site, according to government figures. Defense Minister Carlos Presti said on Friday that work will resume on January 2, once public tenders close.

The executive has reassigned some US$142 million to the project through decree 867 and is seeking the remaining funding. Ravier categorically ruled out any foreign involvement, saying there is no agreement with the United States and no support of any kind, and that the base will be entirely Argentine.

Ushuaia lies about 700 kilometers from the archipelago, a British overseas territory whose sovereignty Argentina claims. In the 2013 referendum, 99.8% of voters chose to retain that status.

The announcement is part of the campaign launched by President Javier Milei on September 3. So far, the foreign ministry has administrative proceedings open against at least 60 individuals and companies under Law 26,659, with no penalty applied, and on September 7 filed a criminal complaint against five companies linked to the Sea Lion project, lodged with the federal court of Julián Ercolini. None of the allegations has been proven. Argentina had already barred Rockhopper for twenty years in 2013 and Navitas in April 2022.

Ravier also said at least three of the sector's largest companies had withdrawn from the Sea Lion project, and that José Antonio Kast's government in Chile had committed not to provide logistical assistance to British vessels. Neither statement has been independently confirmed.