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Original article: Milei pone Argentina en venta: busca liberar la compra extranjera de tierras, agua y minerales

The government led by Javier Milei is advancing a plan that, if implemented, will remove barriers for foreign investment throughout Argentine territory. This initiative from the so-called «libertarian» is driven by the proposal known as «Inviolability of Private Property,» which aims to repeal existing land laws and eliminate any limits on foreign ownership of land, water, and minerals by magnates and corporations worldwide.

This project marks a significant shift in territorial sovereignty policy, as current regulations prevent any single country or group of foreign investors from owning more than 15% of the total rural land. With the new regulation, this ceiling would disappear entirely.

According to the Tierra Viva news agency, at present, 5% of Argentina’s rural land, an area comparable to England (13 million hectares), is owned by foreign entities. Although the current law allows for this figure to rise to as much as 40 million hectares, Milei aims to go much further and allow unrestricted purchasing.

A pertinent question arises: why does the far-right government want to dismantle all limits and put the southern country up for sale? An analysis by the Land Observatory (Agrarian History Program/UBA) suggests the «libertarian» seeks to accelerate a process of foreignization that is already concentrating in the country’s most valuable areas: border zones, riverbanks, regions with mining potential, and areas housing strategic glaciers and aquifers.

The official project doesn’t just eliminate caps but removes all existing protections. The reform, drafted by Minister Federico Sturzenegger and negotiated in the Senate by Patricia Bullrich, abolishes the prohibition on purchasing land in security-sensitive border zones and along the banks of perennial waterways. Furthermore, it relaxes the definition of «foreign ownership,» allowing any foreign individuals or companies with up to 51% foreign capital to acquire properties without any restrictions. This move disarms the current Interministerial Council of Rural Lands, leaving the final authority with provincial governments, many of which have already shown willingness to open their territories to large-scale mining.

In parallel, the enactment of the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) provides tax and customs benefits for up to 30 years to foreign capital that arrives to exploit resources, with 21 mining projects already approved, including in protected glacier and wetland areas. The elimination of the Indigenous Territorial Emergency Law, which had hindered encroachment upon native communities, and the modification of the Glacier Law, which has left the decision to protect these ecosystems in the hands of provincial authorities, are additional links in the same chain.

Exodus of Natural Resource Profits

The Land Observatory has warned that the convergence of these regulations sets up a favorable scenario for the capital flight of natural resource profits, while local communities are left exposed to the social and environmental consequences of intensive exploitation.

«In a context of extractive expansion, increased presence of foreign capital, and regulatory frameworks that enable the free use of foreign currency, the risks are clear: those resources might be exploited intensively, with severe social repercussions for surrounding communities, leading to capital flight and a shift towards a primarization of the economy, undermining the ability to decide on the use and destination of these territories,» they stated.

The foreignization map created by UBA shows that 36 municipalities already surpass the current 15% limit, and in four of them, foreign-held land exceeds 50% of the territory. These cases are not coincidental, including Lácar (Neuquén), General Lamadrid (La Rioja), and Molinos and San Carlos (Salta), all located in the Andes mountain range, where the country’s most significant water and mining resources are concentrated. For instance, in General Lamadrid, where 57% of the land is foreign-owned, six mining projects are planned in glacier zones. In San Carlos, with 60% foreign ownership, the situation repeats, leaving four indigenous communities unprotected after the repeal of their territorial survey law.

The origin of the buyers also paints a picture connected to global power. Official data indicates that Americans lead the list with over 2.7 million hectares, followed by Italians and Spaniards, but the most alarming case is that of owners based in tax havens, who already control 2.2 million hectares. This opacity stems from Decree 820/2016 by the government of Mauricio Macri, which dismantled information sharing with the AFIP and UIF to identify the ultimate beneficiaries.

According to researchers, the underlying discussion goes beyond the buying and selling of fields and focuses on «who controls strategic territories and what interests guide their use.» They warned that the reforms pushed by La Libertad Avanza, by eliminating all restrictions, not only legalize the mass foreignization of the territory but also establish a model where national sovereignty is subordinate to global capital interests.

La entrada Milei Puts Argentina on the Market: Aims to Open Land, Water, and Mineral Sales to Foreign Buyers se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.