Argentinas

Argentina’s president accused of political machinations as he eyes shifting US stance on Las Malvinas.

Argentine President Javier Milei has threatened sanctions against companies drilling for oil near the Falkland Islands.

In a televised address on Thursday, Milei said he would seek approval of urgent legislation to toughen penalties for companies operating near the islands without approval from Buenos Aires. Argentina claims sovereignty over the South Atlantic archipelago, which it calls Las Malvinas,

Milei’s hardened stance is viewed as a bid to revive support for his libertarian presidency, with the Falklands issue one of the few that cuts across political lines.

The sanctions would target the Sea Lion project, a deep-sea oil field about 140 miles (220 kilometres) north of the islands being developed by the UK’s Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum.

Milei said the sanctions would extend beyond the two firms to suppliers, shareholders and directors and that companies involved could be barred from operating in Argentina altogether.

Argentine war veterans and environmental lawyers have already filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the project, which Milei said violates a United Nations resolution urging Argentina and the UK to avoid unilateral action around the islands.

Britain’s Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, said on Friday that Milei’s statement “tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands”.

“The Falklands are British because Falkland Islanders choose to be British,” he added. “Our commitment to the Falklands is absolute and unshakeable.”

London frequently refers to a 2013 referendum in which the roughly 4,000 islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain British in response to questions over sovereignty.

Rockhopper said in a statement that it does not expect the latest development to have a “material effect” on the Sea Lion project. The company hopes to start drilling this year, with production by 2028.

Milei’s revival of the dispute is seen as a bid to overturn domestic criticism of his relations with United States President Donald Trump, which some have called subservient.

However, the Argentine president hopes to show that the relationship has the potential to reap rewards, with Trump having hinted that Washington could alter its neutral stance on the Falklands to turn it in Argentina’s favour.

Trump recently declined to say whether the US would back the UK in a future Falklands conflict, criticising Britain instead for not doing more to support the US-led bombing campaign against Iran.

Britain and Argentina fought the 1982 war over the islands that killed more than 900 people from both sides. The conflict still shapes Argentina’s national identity and remains one of the few issues that unites its otherwise divided political class.

Milei has faced accusations from opposition MPs that he is exploiting the dispute for political gain as his approval ratings slump to 34 percent.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Buenos Aires, Teresa Bo, said the timing owes as much to domestic politics as to Washington.

“Milei’s approval ratings have been falling as Argentines feel the impact of his harsh austerity plan,” she said.

“And the Malvinas are one of the few issues capable of uniting Argentines across the political spectrum.”

BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 3 (UPI) — Argentina’s declining birth rate has drawn renewed attention after President Javier Milei linked the drop in births to the legalization of abortion during at least two public appearances over the past week.

Milei said Argentina’s population is no longer growing at a rate sufficient to ensure generational replacement because of what he called “that passion for murdering children in their mothers’ wombs.” He added that the trend is costing the country dearly in terms of economic growth and its pension system.

But demographic data and experts consulted by UPI challenge Milei’s assertion, noting that the decline began years before abortion was legalized and reflects broader economic and social factors.

Argentina’s birth rate began to fall in 2014, six years before the country legalized abortion in 2020.

According to official data released Wednesday by UNICEF Argentina, the number of births fell by nearly half over the past decade to 413,135 in 2024 from 777,012 in 2014. The fertility rate has reached its lowest level on record at 1.3 children per woman.

Argentina’s trend is part of a global phenomenon, though the decline has been more pronounced in the country. In 2024, Argentina recorded roughly the same number of births as in 1948, despite having three times as many women of reproductive age.

Sociologist and feminist historian Dora Barrancos said Milei’s argument is part of a broader narrative also found among far-right groups in other countries.

“There is a strong ideological focus on blaming feminists and their policies for the decline in the birth rate. From a historical perspective, that explanation has no basis,” she said.

Gala Díaz Langou, director of the International Panel on Social Progress, also rejected abortion as an explanation for the declining birth rate.

“That argument does not hold up. This is a global, multifaceted process,” she said.

Mariana Isasi, head of the United Nations Population Fund office in Argentina, said the declining birth rate reflects tensions between people’s personal aspirations, economic conditions and the way family life is organized.

A recent UNFPA survey on reproductive intentions in Argentina found that 57% of people between ages 18 and 45 would like to have more children.

“There is a gap between the number of children people have and the number they would like to have. This shows that the desire exists, but the conditions to do so are not always there,” Isasi said.

Isasi said conditions were not necessarily better in previous periods, but people today have more tools to make decisions about motherhood.

Uncertainty about the future is another factor influencing decisions about whether to have children. In addition, 20% of those surveyed said they had difficulty finding a suitable partner with whom to have children.

Isasi also noted that Argentina’s adolescent fertility rate has fallen by more than 50%.

“It is good news that teenage girls can continue their education without becoming mothers and can decide later whether they want to have children,” she said.

Another factor is the postponement of motherhood. The average age at which women in Argentina have their first child is 29.2.

“When motherhood is postponed, people may end up having fewer children over the course of their lives,” Isasi said.

Díaz Langou said some of the factors behind the falling birth rate represent positive changes, while others reflect economic and social difficulties.

Among the positive changes, she cited improvements in contraception that allow women’s reproductive decisions to better reflect their preferences and reduce unintended pregnancies.

Economic conditions and the cost of raising children, however, remain major concerns.

“Raising children is very expensive and is becoming increasingly costly because of the limited availability of public care services in Argentina. This is compounded by precarious employment conditions, which affect the real incomes of many people who have children,” Díaz Langou said.

The cost is also linked to the availability of care services. According to a recent analysis by La Cocina de los Cuidados, an intersectoral group focused on care policies, 48 of the 50 national care policies identified by the organization have been eliminated or defunded since December 2023.

The remaining policies have been repealed, cut back or dismantled under Milei’s administration.

Barrancos places the decline in births within a demographic process that began in the second half of the 19th century and reached Argentina by the end of that century.

She said women began to limit the number of children they had long before the expansion of feminism and the movement for women’s right to make decisions about their own bodies.

Barrancos rejected the idea that the decline in births can be attributed to feminism or the legalization of abortion and disputes that the trend represents a threat.

“There is nothing to fear. As the number of children women want to have declines, other forms of family are also growing, including same-sex families seeking to adopt. The alarmist rhetoric of the far right is incompatible with the historical evidence,” she said.