Santiago Caputo, chief adviser to Argentine President Javier Milei, has used the election of a British MP to argue that Argentina must press its claim to the Falkland Islands. Milei shared Caputo’s post on X.
Caputo’s post pointed to Sagal Abdi-Wali, who took her seat in parliament on Monday after being elected MP for Holborn and St Pancras this month, defeating Green party leader Zack Polanski. Caputo framed her election as evidence that Britain was being overtaken by Islam, calling it a danger to the west and what he described as a historical tragedy for defenders of liberty. He said this was yet another reason for Argentina to assert itself toward the south Atlantic and take back what he called Las Malvinas, warning that the west could not tolerate an Islamic foothold in a region he said would carry growing strategic weight in coming decades.
Decades-old dispute
The Falkland Islands sit some 300 miles off the South American coastline. Argentina and Britain fought a 74-day war over the territory in 1982, a conflict that killed 649 Argentinian military personnel, 255 British personnel and three Falkland Islanders. It has been 44 years since that war.
In a 2013 referendum, 99.8 percent of Falkland Islands residents voted to remain a British territory. The population of roughly 3,600 islanders has long had its wish to stay British respected by London, a position UK officials restated this week through Andy Burnham.
Rising pressure over oil and fishing
Milei has sought to criminalise executives involved in the Falklands’ developing oil industry and has threatened to target the islands’ fishing sector as well. UK officials say pressure from Argentina over the Falklands has reached a level not seen since the 1982 war itself.
The Guardian reported that the Foreign Office wrote to Interpol seeking assurance the agency would not act favourably on any detention requests targeting individuals who work in the Falklands. This week the UK government also announced it would move to protect the interests of businesses operating there. Caputo has advised Milei since 2021.
