The Argentine government has intensified its campaign to reclaim the islands, which Buenos Aires calls Las Malvinas, as a row over offshore oil exploration threatens to deepen tensions with Britain.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei (Image: Getty)
Argentina has claimed it must recover the Falkland Islands because Britain is allegedly being “colonised by Islam”, in a provocative intervention by a key adviser to President Javier Milei. Santiago Caputo, one of the Argentine president’s closest political confidantes, made the extraordinary claim in a lengthy post on X, arguing that Britain’s supposed religious transformation posed a threat to Western civilisation.
His comments were subsequently shared by Mr Milei, giving further prominence to the inflammatory remarks amid an escalating diplomatic dispute between Buenos Aires and London over the South Atlantic islands. Mr Caputo wrote: “Seeing the United Kingdom being colonised by Islam is not only an imminent risk to the cause of the entire West, but also a historical tragedy for those of us who defend the ideas of freedom.”
Nigel Farage says Falklands sovereignty is ‘non-negotiable’
He added: “This is another reason why Argentina must project itself firmly into the South Atlantic and recover the Falkland Islands.”
The adviser argued that the strategic importance of the South Atlantic would increase over the coming decades, warning that the West could not allow an Islamic state to gain influence in the region.
He said: “Recovering the Falklands is not just a national cause. It is a cause of the West.”
Mr Caputo’s intervention was prompted by footage of Labour MP Sagal Abdi-Wali taking her oath in the House of Commons with her hand on the Koran, reported Clarin.
The legislator, who was born in Somalia and came to Britain as a child, was elected to represent Holborn and St Pancras following a by-election.
The parliamentary ceremony is a recognised procedure, with MPs able to swear an oath using a religious text or make a non-religious affirmation.
However, the footage was used by Argentine commentator Javier Negre to argue that Britain was undergoing “Islamisation”. Mr Caputo subsequently amplified the claim, linking the presence of Muslims in British public life to Argentina’s longstanding demand for sovereignty over the Falklands.
The remarks come at a particularly sensitive moment in relations between the two countries.
The Argentine government has intensified its campaign to reclaim the islands, which Buenos Aires calls Las Malvinas, as a row over offshore oil exploration threatens to deepen tensions with Britain.
Argentina has also pursued legal action over the development of the Sea Lion oilfield north of the islands.
The £1.6billion project, led by Israeli firm Navitas Petroleum and British company Rockhopper Exploration, is expected to begin production in 2028. Argentina argues that the development infringes its sovereign rights, while Britain maintains that the project is lawful.
The latest intervention adds a religious and ideological dimension to the long-running sovereignty dispute.
Mr Caputo portrayed Britain as a historic foundation of Western civilisation, citing the Magna Carta, political philosophers John Locke and Adam Smith, and scientists including Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.
He then argued that the alleged spread of Islam threatened the values he claimed Britain had helped establish.
His post was shared by Mr Milei, who has made recovering the Falklands a priority of his administration while pursuing diplomatic and legal pressure rather than military action.
Britain has controlled the islands since 1833, although Argentina continues to claim sovereignty. The dispute led to war in 1982, when Argentine forces invaded and British troops were sent to retake the territory.
The 74-day conflict ended in Argentine surrender, with 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British service personnel and three islanders killed.
The islands remain a British Overseas Territory, with their own elected government. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8 % of participating voters backed remaining under British rule, a result London cites in defending the islanders’ right to self-determination. Argentina rejected the vote.
Mr Caputo’s comments have not changed the islands’ status, but they underline the increasingly combative tone of Argentina’s campaign as the two countries clash over sovereignty and valuable offshore resources.