Milei seeks to repeal the Land Law so as to accept the purchase of strategic land by foreign private entities.

A map produced by the Buenos Aires University (UBA) and the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) reveals that 13 million hectares, nearly 5% of Argentina’s territory, are in foreign hands.

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While the Land Law (26.737) sets a limit of 15% foreign ownership per province, the UBA-CONICET report shows that 36 departments already exceed this limit, with cases in Neuquen, La Rioja, and Salta where foreign ownership exceeds 50%.

Cabinet of Ministers Chief Manuel Adorni explained that President Javier Milei seeks to repeal the Land Law, which would open the door to the purchase of strategic land by foreign private entities.

Historian Matias Oberlin and sociologist Julieta Caggiano, creators of the Land Observatory, warn that without this legal restraint, the Argentine map “turns red,” revealing massive border violations.

The main landowners are U.S. citizens and companies, with more than 2.7 million hectares, followed by Italians, Spaniards, and the Benetton conglomerate, which owns 900,000 hectares of Patagonia acquired in 1991.

The Italian company transformed the lands into a private fiefdom, diversified into wool, meat, agriculture, forestry, and mining under the logic of external capital.

In Mendoza, with more than 600,000 hectares under foreign ownership, mining investments have been announced. The interactive map, built using public information requests, seeks to open a debate on the impact of foreign ownership in border areas, aquifers, and natural reserves.

The researchers warn that allowing foreign expansion onto lakes, forests, mountain ranges, and strategic rivers would reduce the Argentine state’s capacity to respond to the basic needs of its population.

According to the UBA-CONICET report, defining which lands can be sold and under what rules is a matter of sovereignty and development, which directly affects the country’s most sensitive resources.

teleSUR: JP

Source: Tiempo Argentino

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