The Argentine president, Javier Milei, announced this Wednesday that the Government will present new criminal actions against companies that would be carrying out hydrocarbon activities on the continental shelf of the country. According to the Executive, these legal steps will involve both the extension of ongoing judicial cases and the opening of additional files.
"The Office of the President informs that new criminal complaints will be filed against companies that would be developing hydrocarbon activities on the Argentine continental shelf, in violation of the prohibitions established by Law No. 26,659," the Casa Rosada communicated in an official note.
The statement clarifies that the new actions will not be limited to "new companies involved" in these operations, but will also "identify directors, managers, administrators, representatives, and other individuals who have intervened in decisions related to these activities." Thus, the possible expansion of already existing files and the initiation of new processes are contemplated.
In parallel, the central Government has reiterated that it will continue to deploy measures that "allow holding accountable" "all those who are found violating" the "national sovereignty" of Argentina. These initiatives, it emphasized, will not be limited solely to legal entities but will also reach those who, from their positions and responsibilities, "have intervened in the commission of these offenses."
"The national Government will continue to use all means at its disposal to prevent companies or individuals from carrying out activities that violate the sovereign rights of the Argentine Republic and to sanction those responsible," concludes the text disseminated by the Casa Rosada.
Hours before this announcement, the same presidential office had reported the initiation of sanctioning procedures against 15 more individuals for their participation in oil activities in the Falkland Islands. These are added to the ongoing work to impose penalties on another 45 companies and individuals.
Thus, this new batch of files is integrated into the set of actions already opened against 45 individuals and entities "involved in the illegitimate development of hydrocarbon activities" in the Falklands.
"This advance is a new step in the same direction," the statement pointed out at the time, in a context of growing tension between Buenos Aires and London over the dispute regarding the South Atlantic archipelago, whose controversy led to a ten-week war in 1982.
It is worth remembering that last Thursday the head of the Argentine State, in a televised message to the nation, announced a decree aimed at accelerating the tightening of sanctions against those who participate in oil extraction projects in the Falkland Islands "without authorization" from Buenos Aires. At the same time, he advanced in the creation of an integrated naval base in the province of Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of the American continent, as well as in strengthening telecommunications capabilities in the area.
The debate over the sovereignty of the Falklands has intensified in recent days following brief statements from the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who, when responding to the press, referred to the possibility of reviewing Washington's stance regarding support for the United Kingdom on the issue of the disputed archipelago.
In relation to those words, the United States ambassador to Chile, Brandon Judd, has spoken this week in an interview with CNN, where he specified that "a review is not a change of stance."
"Everyone reviews policies, all presidents. It doesn't matter if it's the president of Chile, the president of the United States, or the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Everyone reviews policies and examines policy statements to see if today's world is still the same as when that agreement was signed," the diplomat emphasized, insisting that Trump "never said he changed the policy" nor "ever said he was going to change it."