Javier Milei might be a Thatcherite economically, but when it comes to the Falklands he’s about as Thatcherite as a bunch of striking miners. In a speech this week to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Falklands war, Milei announced that he would not only fight for as long as it takes to gain sovereignty over the Islands, but that he would persuade the Islanders that becoming Argentinian was actually in their interests. Yes, really.
‘We hope that the Malvinas people will one day decide to vote with their feet for us’, he proclaimed. ‘That is why we seek to make Argentina such a power that they will prefer to be Argentines and that we will not even need dissuasion or convincing to achieve it.’
Good heavens. Well, I don’t believe Mr Milei has ever been to the Falklands, but if he does go, he will quickly discover that there is more chance of the Islanders drowning themselves in the icy southern Atlantic than agreeing to ‘become Argentines’.
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