The "April 2" War Veterans Federation supported the measures announced by the President and seeks to participate in the debate on the bill to strengthen the defense of sovereignty
Argentina is experiencing a true national and patriotic awakening under the leadership of President Javier Milei, who last Thursday delivered a historic national address to announce a total offensive in defense of our sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. In an unprecedented demonstration of national unity, the Federation of War Veterans “April 2” of the Argentine Republic issued a statement on Friday September 4, 2026 firmly supporting the official announcements.
Those who fought in 1982 expressed categorical support for "any message that reaffirms this constitutional mandate" proclaiming Argentina's legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty over the archipelago usurped by the United Kingdom in 1833. Stating that the cause is a state policy that "transcends any political or party context", the veterans called for the consolidation of a "united national front" to effectively safeguard our maritime borders.
The president, Javier Milei
For the heroes of the homeland, it is a priority to equip the Nation with legislative tools to defend its wealth. For this reason, the Federation formally requested an active role in the National Congress for the debate of the new National Sovereignty Defense Bill.
In their proclamation, they requested that legislative committees "include the participation, testimony, and advice of the 1982 combatants", arguing with deep patriotic conviction that "the contribution of war veterans and their experience in the South Atlantic must be a living part of the construction of 21st-century defense policies".
Similarly, they firmly reminded that territorial sovereignty cannot be separated from the well-being of those who fought, declaring that "the defense of our national territory is inseparable from the dignity of those who fought for it".
The strong support of the veterans validates President Javier Milei's determination to stop the illegal plundering of our non-renewable resources. Specifically, the Federation deemed it "indispensable and urgent" to drastically increase legal, criminal, and administrative sanctions against "foreign companies, ships, or organizations" that intend to illegitimately exploit the Argentine sea.
President Javier Milei presents a medal to a veteran of the Malvinas.
They also stated that "the defense of the South Atlantic requires severe legal tools and effective compliance". This position fully validates the presidential decree signed to accelerate the penalties of Law 26.659 and deactivate the threat of the Sea Lion project for offshore oil extraction, operated unilaterally and illegally by Navitas Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration behind the back of the Argentine Government.
In terms of regulatory detail, the legislative package urgently sent to Congress will impose exemplary punishment. The reform of Law 26.659 will not only disqualify and fine oil corporations but will extend identical sanctions to their entire chain of suppliers and directors, prohibiting any contracting in national territory with the public or private sector, and incorporating the figure of "trial in absentia".
The diplomatic offensive led by the Foreign Ministry has already issued nearly 180 discouragement notes to companies and more than 29 involved countries. With devastating commercial pragmatism, the Executive has placed them before a hard choice: "they will have to choose between an illegal bet in a disputed territory and a profitable and secure operation in a sovereign country with clear rules and predictability. Both cannot be done".
Alongside the economic sanctions, the national Government will deploy its physical power in the territory. Through a decree of necessity and urgency, the budget of the Ministry of Defense will be expanded to carry out a project of immeasurable strategic value that the veterans celebrated with enthusiasm: the construction of the integrated naval base in Tierra del Fuego and the increase of telecommunications capabilities.
Falklands Veterans
This infrastructure will turn the province into the most important logistical hub of the South Atlantic, vital for safeguarding the maritime border and consolidating the projection of national sovereignty towards the Antarctica. Furthermore, the creation of the new National Security Council —which will coordinate across Foreign Affairs, Defense, Intelligence, and Economy— will define mandatory cross-cutting policies to respond with diplomatic and financial tools to any threat to the survival of the Nation.
Finally, President Javier Milei demonstrated that this historic and dignified defensive posture is only possible because he rescued Argentina from the misery and socialist abandonment of recent decades. The economic normalization, the lifting of the currency controls, and the historic influx of investments attracted by the RIGI restore to the country the financial muscle necessary to impose severe costs on the usurping powers, under the premise that a impoverished and disarmed country can never successfully defend its rights.
President Javier Milei in national broadcast
While the United Kingdom is on a path of irreversible decline, suffocated by migratory, demographic, and economic crises, Argentina is emerging as a reliable and strategic partner aligned with free Western nations, a geopolitical shift so marked that it has led the leader of the United States, Donald Trump, to reassess the historical American position in favor of our claim.
The defense of sovereignty demands, in this new global era, to be "a politically relevant nation, economically influential, and militarily respectable", the only true path to honor the memory of our fallen and the glory of our veterans
