Opposition deputies from Unión por la Patria (UxP) presented a request to impeach Foreign Minister Diana Mondino over a joint statement she signed with her British counterpart, David Lammy, promising co-operation on the Malvinas Islands.
The deputies accuse Mondino of serving the British occupation of the islands and wrongfully carrying out actions that have to pass through Congress.
“The foreign minister seeks to appropriate functions that are proper to the legislative branch, celebrating international agreements without passing through the National Congress,” said UxP deputy Eduardo Toniolli. “Most serious is the underlying issue: Mondino is functional to the British occupation and its policy of militarization and looting of the South Atlantic.”
Questions remain as to how impeachment proceedings would begin given that the Impeachment Commission does not currently have a presiding deputy and is thus not operational.
Mondino met with the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy in September in New York following the United Nations Summit of the Future and announced that there had been an initial agreement to discuss humanitarian work, flights, and fisheries conservation. According to the Argentine Foreign Ministry, the negotiations happened within a “renewed stage for bilateral relations, characterized by dialogue and building trust.”
Three criminal complaints have been filed against Mondino since the announcement.
The pact was met with widespread condemnation and proved divisive within the LLA government, with Vice President Victoria Villarruel declaring her explicit rejection of the proposal. The vice president is the daughter of a former military officer and a vocal advocate of military interests in Argentina.
“The proposed agreement announced with the United Kingdom is contrary to the interests of our nation,” she said days after the Mondino-Lammy meeting. “It proposes handing over continental logistical support to the occupation and in fact allows them to continue plundering our seas, and for what? To go and visit our islands with a visa and passport?”
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No commission, no impeachment?
Earlier this year, botched attempts to designate an LLA deputy as chair of the impeachment commission led to intense infighting within the ruling party. Given its strategic importance — the political capital of handling impeachment requests — parties jockeyed for the leadership position, but the commission currently doesn’t have a president. Impeachment proceedings moving forward hinge on the designation of a commission chair.
The commission, which has yet to meet in 2024, consists of 13 UxP deputies, four LLA deputies, five PRO deputies.
When functioning normally, the commission deliberates on whether impeachment requests are valid. If it finds that they are, it can start an investigation and summon witnesses. Once concluded, the commission issues a judgment. If they decide to continue with the case, then impeachment proceedings are started in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate.
According to Chequeado, the last time the commission handled an impeachment request in-depth was in 2015. They last ousted a public official in 2003.
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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.