Bill would create National Security Council to coordinate response

Argentine President Javier Milei’s government sent a bill to Congress on Thursday that would sharply increase penalties for companies and individuals involved in natural resource extraction in the Falkland Islands and establish a new national security framework.

The proposal, called the National Sovereignty Defense Law, would replace regulations established in 2011 that the government described as “ineffective.” Current law focuses primarily on hydrocarbon activities; the new bill would expand restrictions to all natural resources, including renewable resources, directly bringing fishing activities under the framework, Argentine news outlet Infobae reported.

The proposal also would broaden who could face penalties. Liability would not be limited to companies directly extracting resources but could extend to individuals or entities involved in activities necessary to carry out those projects.

Penalties would be toughened significantly. Certain offenses involving nonrenewable natural resources could carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Unauthorized extraction, transportation, or storage of hydrocarbons could carry prison sentences of 15 to 20 years. Administrative penalties would also increase, with fines equivalent to the value of between 4,000 and 500,000 barrels of oil, according to Argentine newspaper Perfil. The proposal calls for suspensions, license cancellations, and disqualifications that could last between five and 20 years.

Another central component is the creation of a National Security Council that would lead a new National Security System, coordinating government agencies involved in diplomacy, the economy, defense, legal affairs, and intelligence. The council would also have responsibilities related to protecting critical infrastructure and national sovereignty.

The government said the proposal has three main objectives: penalizing natural resource exploitation it considers “illegitimate,” creating incentives to halt such activities, and providing the state with new tools to confront “external threats.”

“The initiative represents a milestone in the process of recovering the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, and an unprecedented legal advance in our country’s history,” the Office of the President said in a statement posted on X.

“All Argentines, of all ages and from every corner of the country, recognize the Malvinas as a national cause and their recovery as a promise that each generation inherits from the previous one,” the statement said.

The bill comes amid the longstanding sovereignty dispute between Argentina and Britain over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas. The British-administered territory has been claimed by Argentina since the 19th century. The two countries fought a war over the islands in 1982, and the sovereignty dispute remains unresolved. In recent decades, the dispute has also involved the exploitation of natural resources in surrounding waters, particularly oil and fisheries.

“The Argentine Republic must have a comprehensive and coordinated regulatory framework to defend its sovereignty and strengthen its institutional capabilities in the face of today’s threats,” the Office of the President said.

“Everything done in the past proved insufficient and ineffective to effectively defend the Malvinas cause,” the statement said.