World

Argentina Adviser Links UK Parliament Election to Falkland Claim

By Daniel Boffey

Santiago Caputo, chief adviser to Argentine President Javier Milei, posted on X that the election of Labour MP Sagal Abdi‑Wali to the UK Parliament demonstrates Britain’s Islamisation and justifies Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands. Caputo, who is reportedly involved in Argentina’s Falkland strategy, said that taking the islands would prevent an “Islamic state” from influencing the region. Milei shared the post. The comment comes amid rising tensions between Argentina and the UK over the sovereignty of the Falklands, located 300 miles off the South American coast. Abdi‑Wali was elected MP for Holborn and St Pancras in London, defeating Green Party leader Zack Polanski, and took her seat on Monday. Milei has called for criminalising executives in the islands’ emerging oil industry and threatened to target the fishing sector, a key part of the islands’ economy. Argentina has long sought sovereignty over the islands. UK officials say the current level of Argentine pressure has not been seen since the 1982 war, which ended with Argentine surrender and cost 649 Argentine, 255 British, and three Falkland Islander lives. This week, UK Labour MP Andy Burnham reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to the wishes of the 3,600 islanders to remain British and announced protection for businesses operating there. The Guardian reported that the Foreign Office wrote to Interpol to ensure the agency would not support detentions of Falkland workers. Caputo’s post described the UK as “the cradle of modern western civilisation” but now a threat, claiming that Islamisation poses an imminent risk to the West and to liberty. He argued that Argentina must project itself toward the south Atlantic to reclaim the Malvinas, citing the strategic importance of the region. Caputo included a photo of Abdi‑Wali, a former Somali child refugee, being sworn in, and Spanish journalist Javier Negre commented that she was taking her oath on the Qur’an, noting Islam’s growing influence in the country. In 2013, 99.8% of Falkland Islanders voted to remain a British territory, with only three votes against.