The Chamber of Deputies of Argentina approved this Wednesday, by a very narrow margin, the bill on the Inviolability of private property, one of the key pieces of the legislative package promoted by the Government of Javier Milei. However, since the articles were modified and two provisions were incorporated that restore the Land Law of 2011, previously repealed by executive decree, the text must return to the Senate for a new sanction.
The initiative surpassed an extensive and tense session with 124 favorable votes, 119 against, and six abstentions, according to the newspaper "La Nación". These abstentions were decisive for the project to advance: five corresponded to deputies close to the governor of Córdoba, Martín Llaryora, of the Justicialist Party, and the sixth to legislator Álvaro González, of Propuesta Republicana (PRO), the party led by former president Mauricio Macri.
The project was supported by La Libertad Avanza (LLA), the force headed by Milei, along with its main partners: PRO, the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) of centrist orientation, and some provincial blocs. On the opposite side were aligned Unión por la Patria (UP), the Coalición Cívica (CC), the Frente de Izquierda (FIT), the Movimiento de Integración y Desarrollo (MID), and the deputies referenced in the governors of Catamarca, Raúl Jalil, and Tucumán, Osvaldo Jaldo, both of the Justicialist Party.
The modifications require that the project return to the Upper House, as changes were introduced in the Expropriations and Property Regularization laws, in addition to adjustments that facilitate evictions and update the functioning of the Property Registry, as reported by the Todo Noticias network.
In terms of expropriations, the text limits the scope of action of the State, requires that the purpose of public utility be strictly defined under criteria of suitability, necessity, and proportionality, and establishes that 100% of the compensation must be paid —including market value and lost profits— before the transfer of property is finalized.
Restoration of the Land Law of 2011
Among the set of changes introduced, those of Chapter IV stand out, which guarantees the continuity of the Land Law, previously annulled by the Government through decree. This restoration received overwhelming support: 239 deputies voted in favor.
In this line, the Chamber decided to add two new articles to the project: article 38, which repeals article 134 of Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) 70/2023 with which the Executive of Milei had eliminated the Land Law, and article 39, which reinstates Law 26.737 of 2011 —approved during the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner— and again imposes strong restrictions on the ownership of rural land by foreigners in Argentina.
The regulation establishes, concretely, that foreign individuals and legal entities cannot concentrate more than 15% of the total surface area of rural land on a national, provincial, and municipal scale.