🖼️  UN General Assembly Hall, New York (  Wikimedia Commons)

🌐  Milei returns to the UN rostrum

The Argentine president took the floor before the 81st General Assembly of the United Nations around noon, Argentine time, on the day of the general debate that brings together the heads of state and government of the 193 member countries every September. His presentation came hours after the speeches of Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who warned about what he defined as the most critical moment in the history of the organization, and the American Donald Trump, focused on the advance of artificial intelligence.

It was Milei's third appearance before the plenary since he assumed the presidency in December 2023. In his first speech, in 2024, he questioned the functioning of the body and the 2030 Agenda without mentioning the Malvinas issue; in 2025 he introduced the sovereignty claim for the first time. The 2026 edition took that proposal to a considerably harsher tone.

🗣️  "The sacred pact was broken": criticism of the organization

Milei structured his speech in three axes that he announced at the beginning: first, what the UN should have done and did not do; second, what it should not have done and yet did; and third, his position on the advance of artificial intelligence. He recalled that, 78 years ago, the organization committed itself to defending the sovereignty of nations and offering a forum for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

On that basis, he described the organization as "useless" and maintained that currently "it only serves to feed a caste of parasites." He argued that the institutions that were supposed to guarantee collective security and human rights did not fulfill that function and, instead, coexisted with the advance of chaos, violence and international terrorism on different global fronts.

🇦🇷🇬🇧  Malvinas, "national cause": resolution 3149 and oil sanctions

The section with the greatest impact of the speech was the one dedicated to the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. Milei defined the claim of sovereignty as a central issue of Argentine foreign policy and presented it as a concrete example of the distance between the words of international organizations and the deeds.

The President recalled that 50 years ago the Assembly itself approved resolution 3149, which urges both parties to refrain from introducing unilateral modifications in the situation until the sovereignty dispute is resolved. According to his proposal, the UN failed to ensure that this resolution had practical consequences, which, he maintained, erodes the authority of the organization.

In this context, he ratified the tightening of sanctions on more than 60 foreign companies linked to oil exploration and exploitation projects in the North Malvinas Basin, which he described as illegal for operating without Argentine authorization on resources in the disputed area. He also advanced a step that he had not taken in previous speeches: he explicitly rejected that the inhabitants of the archipelago have a legitimate right to self-determination and described as invalid the referendums held there to define the sovereignty of the territory.

The President once again called on the United Kingdom to reopen bilateral negotiations and to discuss the exploitation of the natural resources of the area, although he clarified that Argentina "is not going to sit and wait" for the UN to act.

🖼️  Topographic map of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)  (Wikimedia Commons)

🇬🇧  London's response: Streeting, Burnham and diplomatic tension

Milei's speech came hours after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham in his own speech before the Assembly disavowed Argentina's sovereignty over the South Atlantic and stated that his country will stand firm in the face of any threat to the right of British territories to remain so, in direct reference to the Malvinas.

During the Argentine president's presentation, two members of the British diplomatic mission remained in the room following the simultaneous translation and taking notes. This episode added to an escalation that had begun weeks earlier, when the United Kingdom's Minister of Defense, Wes Streeting, described the islands as British based on the election of their inhabitants and maintained that his government's commitment to the territory is absolute and unwavering.

🌎  Regional Support: The OAS Declaration

Days before the speech at the UN, the Organization of American States (OAS) had adopted, unanimously and by acclamation, a new declaration of support for the Argentine claim, in which it urged the United Kingdom to resume bilateral negotiations suspended for decades. The Argentine Foreign Ministry described the continental support as a relevant sign in the diplomatic strategy promoted by the Government around the Malvinas cause.

🇺🇸🇮🇱  Alignment with the West: the United States, Israel and the meeting with Rubio

Milei ratified before the plenary what he defined as an "unambiguous" alignment  with the West, the United States and Israel, based – as he explained – on a coincidence of values and strategic interests. After his speech, he held a meeting with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in which, according to reports, Washington's support for the Argentine position in the Malvinas dispute and the bilateral relationship in general were discussed.

Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno completed the message to the British representatives present at the organization, whom he urged to comply with their obligations in terms of decolonization, and described the presidential speech as forceful with respect to the defense of Western values and economic freedom.

🤖  Artificial intelligence: "The West must lead" the technological future

The third axis of the speech was dedicated to artificial intelligence. Milei argued that it is necessary for the West to lead global technological development and affirmed that Argentina will seek to position itself as a pole of development in the matter, joining the transformation underway. On that point he agreed, although from a different perspective, with Trump, who had dedicated a good part of his own speech to defending the advance of AI and proposing a new name for its most advanced capabilities.

The Argentine president spoke out against States assuming centralized control of this technology and stated that its development should be left in the hands of the private sector and decentralized innovation, in line with the free market principles that characterize its management.

📊  Milei's three speeches to the UN (2024-2026)

A comparison of the central axes that the President raised in each of his speeches before the General Assembly since he took office:

🖼️  Javier Milei, President of the Argentine Republic  (Wikimedia Commons)

🔍  What changes compared to previous editions

The tone of the 2026 speech marked a leap from the previous two. If in 2024 the criticism focused on ideological issues and in 2025 the claim for the Malvinas was moderately added, this year the government decided to combine the diplomatic offensive – sanctions on companies, rejection of the self-determination of the islanders – with a more severe institutional criticism of the very body that hosts the claim. Foreign policy specialists quoted in the press coverage agree that the strategy sought to capitalize on the recent support of the OAS and raise the political cost for the United Kingdom at a time of greater international exposure of the dispute.

❓  Frequently Asked Questions

❓ When did Javier Milei speak at the UN in 2026?

The Argentine president addressed the 81st UN General Assembly on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, around noon Argentine time, at the headquarters in New York.

❓ What did Milei say about the Falkland Islands?

It defined the sovereignty claim as a "national cause," ratified sanctions on more than 60 companies for oil exploitation in the disputed area, rejected the validity of the referendums on self-determination held in the archipelago and called on the United Kingdom to reopen bilateral negotiations.

❓ How did the UK respond to the speech?

Prime Minister Andy Burnham had earlier ignored Argentine sovereignty in his own speech to the UN, and Defense Minister Wes Streeting previously maintained that the islands are British because their inhabitants choose to.

❓ What is resolution 3149 that Milei mentioned?

It is a resolution approved by the UN General Assembly 50 years ago that urges Argentina and the United Kingdom to refrain from introducing unilateral modifications in the situation of the Malvinas while the sovereignty dispute continues.

❓ What did the President propose about artificial intelligence?

He argued that the West must lead global technological development, opposed centralized state control of AI and anticipated that Argentina will seek to become a pole of development in the matter.

⚙️  SEO Data Sheet

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