Argentina’s vice-president has launched an extraordinary attack on the people of the Falklands after telling them to ‘go back to Britain’ if they ‘feel English’.
It comes after the country’s leader declared the islands will always be theirs.
Javier Milei wrote in an X post late last week, referring to the disputed South Atlantic Ocean territory as the Malvinas: ‘The Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine.’
Now, his number two, Victoria Villarruel, has launched a vitriolic attack on the Kelpers, the nickname given to the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands, derived from the large amounts of kelp surrounding them.
Argentina’s vice-president used X to rant: ‘Today more than ever, the Malvinas are Argentine.
‘The discussion over the sovereignty of our islands is between states, therefore the United Kingdom must discuss bilaterally with Argentina the claim that we maintain for legal, historical, and geographical reasons.
‘The kelpers are English people who live in Argentine territory; they are not part of the discussion’
In response to a social media user who said: ‘The islanders are Argentine’, she replied: ‘If they feel English, they should go back to the thousands of miles away where their country is.’
Victoria Villarruel, pictured left, launched a vitriolic attack on the Kelpers, the nickname given to the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands, derived from the large amounts of kelp surrounding them
Royal Marine Peter Robinson carrying the Union Jack as he marched towards Stanley in the final hours of the Falklands War in June 1982
Milei’s earlier comment followed reports that the Pentagon would review the UK’s claim to the Falkland Islands again.
Reuters has linked the decision to Donald Trump’s drive to punish NATO countries for failing to help with his war against Iran.
At the weekend, it emerged Nigel Farage is going to Argentina in the autumn to tell their president to keep their hands off the Falkland Islands.
The Reform Party leader is expected to tell right-wing firebrand Javier Milei that keeping the Falklands British is ‘non-negotiable.’
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said Britain’s commitment to the Falklands is ‘unwavering’.
She insisted after Milei’s comments: ‘The Falklands Islands are British – sovereignty rests with the UK, self-determination rests with the islanders.
‘We could not be clearer about the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands. It’s long-standing. It’s unchanged.’
The 1982 Falklands War claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel.
It started after Argentina invaded the islands, and Margaret Thatcher sent a military task force out to reclaim them and won them back ten weeks later.
On the 43rd anniversary of the war on April 2 last year, Javier Milei said he wanted to turn Argentina into a powerful nation so people in the Falklands chose the struggling South American country over Britain.
He said, calling the islands the Malvinas: ‘When it comes to sovereignty over the Malvinas, we make it clear that the most important vote of all is the one made with feet, and we hope that the Malvinas people will one day decide to vote with their feet for us.
The Falklands War in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands in April, 1982
Javier Milei declared that the Falklands ‘will always be Argentine’
‘That is why we seek to be a power, to such an extent that they prefer to be Argentinian, so that we do not need to use deterrence or persuasion to achieve it.’
A year earlier, he publicly accepted the Falkland Islands were currently ‘in the hands of the UK’ and vowed to get them back through diplomatic channels, but admitted there was no ‘instant solution.’
He made his admission after promising a ‘roadmap’ for the islands to become Argentine.
In the past, Mr Milei has praised Margaret Thatcher, who was Britain’s PM during the conflict.
He met then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron at the Davos Summit in Switzerland in January 2024, after Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said in a long statement following Milei’s landslide victory in the nation’s presidential run-off in November 2023 that its claim to the islands constituted a ‘permanent and unwavering objective.’
As the country’s president-elect, Milei insisted he believed the Falkland Islands belonged to Argentina, but said the islanders must have a say in their future.
Then-PM Rishi Sunak responded at the time by saying through a spokesman: ‘It’s obviously a settled issue, a long-settled issue, and we have no plans to revisit it.’
