Malvinas veterans and opposition politicians have excoriated President Javier Milei’s government after it announced on Tuesday that Argentina is resuming negotiations with the U.K. over humanitarian work, fisheries, and flights to the islands.

Critics argue the negotiations make major concessions to the U.K. on sovereignty of the islands — and treat the delicate humanitarian work of identifying fallen soldiers as a bargaining chip.

Foreign Minister Diana Mondino met with the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Tuesday in New York, where the United Nations Summit of the Future had just taken place. Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said afterward that the negotiations had happened “in the framework of a renewed stage for bilateral relations, characterized by dialogue and building trust.”

Mondino and Lammy agreed that a third phase of Red Cross work to identify fallen Argentine soldiers buried on the islands would begin, monthly flights from Córdoba province to the islands would resume, a trip for relatives of the fallen would be organized this year, and that the countries would discuss fisheries conservation.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday that it was ready to continue the work of identifying the remains of soldiers killed during the 1982 Malvinas War “with the aim of helping to bring some closure to families whose loved ones remain unidentified.” 

The organization, which works on humanitarian norms and protecting victims of conflict, said it commended Argentina and the U.K. for their “ongoing efforts to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law,” stating: “Every family deserves to know what happened to their loved one.”

“You can’t make humanitarian work contingent on fisheries exploitation,” said Jerónimo Guerrero Iraola, a lawyer with the La Plata Malvinas Islands Veterans’ Center. “They’ll try to shoehorn other issues in there, and we’re extremely worried about that.” International humanitarian law requires that the bodies of fallen soldiers be identified, he noted.

In March 2016, Argentina and the U.K. issued a joint statement known as the Foradori-Duncan agreement, after the diplomats who negotiated it. The agreement established that the parties would remove obstacles to economic growth and development on the islands, including in the commerce, fishing, shipping, and oil and gas sectors. They also established that additional flights would serve the islands. 

In the pact, the governments expressed their “full support” for work to use DNA to identify the remains of Argentine soldiers buried in Darwin Cemetery, on the islands. Discussion of this work, they agreed, would take place in Geneva under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross. 

During the March 2023 G20 Foreign Minister Summit in New Delhi, India, Argentina’s then-Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero communicated to his British counterpart, James Cleverly, that Argentina was pulling out of the agreement. Former President Alberto Fernández described the deal as “a shameful pact” that allowed the U.K. to fly back and forth from Brazil and exploit the seas around the islands.

‘Extremely concessive’

Guillermo Carmona, who served as Malvinas, Antarctic and South Atlantic secretary under Fernández, told the Herald that the language in Tuesday’s statements from the U.K. and Argentina was reminiscent of Foradori-Duncan, which he described as “extremely concessive” towards the U.K. The new text replicates this, he argued.

Proposals to stimulate economic growth on the islands would, in practice, involve exploitation of natural resources such as fish and hydrocarbons in the context of the British occupation. These constitute concessions to the U.K. because they “take place in the framework of a colonial model,” he said. “Cooperation on the matter of fishing, that’s what the British want.” 

Argentina has also been vocally opposed to oil and gas drilling in the seas around the islands. In July, the Malvinas Islands Government launched a consultation asking islanders to weigh in on the environmental impact of an offshore oil exploration and drilling project. Israeli company Navitas Petroleum would be in charge of the work. 

In April 2022, the Fernández government banned Navitas Petroleum from carrying out oil exploration in Argentine territory due to its activities around the Malvinas, arguing that the U.K.’s “unilateral natural resources exploration and exploitation activities” go against a United Nations resolution that orders both countries to abstain from making one-sided decisions over the territory while the dispute is ongoing.

Guerrero Iraola said the government’s actions “go against Argentina’s historic demand for sovereignty over the islands” when their position should be one of “steely opposition to the consolidation of colonialism in the twenty-first century.” Carmona expressed similar views.

Tuesday’s agreement, Guerrero argued, constitutes a governmental failure of its constitutional obligation to act in Argentina’s interests.

“What’s the benefit for Argentina?” he said. “Nothing. For us, it’s a diplomatic tragedy.”

Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falklands Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses “Malvinas” to refer to the islands.