Argentina: Macri Accused of 'Treason' Over Handling of Malvinas

Argentinian right-wing President Mauricio Macri was sued Tuesday accused of "treason to the homeland" for handing the Malvinas Islands' airspace to the British government in violation of Article 214 and 215 of the Penal Code. 

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"The executive order 602/2019 allows large airplanes to transit in the aerial space between Brazil and the island," attorney Valeria Carreras, who interposed the lawsuit, said.

The lawyer then explained that giving away the sovereignty over this space is treason since the Argentinian government will not be able to control "who would be carried in those planes."

Macri's policy in the Malvinas started in 2016, according to the lawsuit, when the then Foreign Minister signed a bill bypassing legislative consent over these issues.

According to article 214 and 215, treason is considered when an Argentinian "joins the country's enemies or offers and gives them any help or assistance" by executing "an act aimed at submitting the Nation totally or partially to a foreign domain or undermining its independence or integrity."

Carreras added that this wasn't Macri's first move in favor of a U.K. takeover, as he had already handed the fish resources and later the oil resources to the British government.

Back in 1997, the current head of state had already said that he “never understood the issues of sovereignty in a country as big as ours," warning that "the Malvinas Islands would represent a heavy deficit for Argentina." 

Known to the British as the Falkland, the Malvinas have been held by the U.K. since 1833, when British warships seized the archipelago. Argentina has long disputed British claims to the islands. In 1982, tensions boiled over into a short war that claimed close to 900 lives and ended with the U.K. holding on to the islands.

In 2016, the United Nations decided to allow Argentina to expand its maritime territory in the South Atlantic Ocean by 35 percent, taking in the waters surrounding the long-disputed Malvinas. Yet the U.N. commission’s decision acknowledges the unresolved diplomatic dispute between the two countries.