Milei attacks UN as useless and demands Falklands negotiations in General Assembly address

Critique of multilateral institutions

Argentine President Javier Milei addressed the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on 23 September 2026, delivering a direct rebuke of the international body. Milei stated that the United Nations has failed in its primary duties of collective security and human rights defense. He argued that the institution has instead enabled international violence and terrorism while sheltering bureaucratic interests. He also accused the assembly of voting systematically against Israel and failing to enforce its own resolutions on territorial sovereignty.

Milei described the institution in explicit terms during his address.

“The UN became a useless organization, which only serves to feed a caste of fatally arrogant parasites disguised as well-intentioned bureaucrats.”

Sovereignty dispute and offshore energy

A central focus of Milei's address was Argentina's longstanding sovereignty claim over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as Las Malvinas, alongside South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Milei demanded that the United Kingdom resume bilateral negotiations, citing a 1976 UN General Assembly resolution that urged both nations to resolve the dispute peacefully. He rejected the principle of self-determination for island residents, pointing to the 2013 referendum where 1,513 of 1,517 voters chose to remain a British overseas territory, and asserted that the population had been implanted by an occupying power following the 1833 British takeover. The British delegation remained in the hall without reacting as Milei spoke.

Tensions have centered on the Sea Lion offshore oil project located 220 kilometers north of the archipelago in the North Falkland Basin. Operated by United Kingdom firm Rockhopper Exploration and Israeli company Navitas Petroleum, the project expects drilling in the coming months with commercial production scheduled for 2028. Earlier in September 2026, Buenos Aires initiated administrative sanctions against 60 companies and individuals connected to offshore extraction, while also funding a naval base in Tierra del Fuego to increase military presence in the south.

Artificial intelligence and state deregulation

Milei dedicated a segment of his address to artificial intelligence, rejecting international proposals for regulatory oversight. He argued against global governance frameworks, referencing initiatives backed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres that seek coordinated rules for emerging technologies. Milei characterized dystopian warnings about advanced computing as a pretext for expanding state authority and bureaucracy. He pledged that Argentina would refrain from enacting preemptive regulation, framing technological innovation as a mechanism to multiply economic productivity.

Milei aligned his stance on computing technology with views expressed by United States President Donald Trump.

“Faced with artificial intelligence, Argentina will position itself at the vanguard of freedom.”

Public health policy and global alignment

Milei also revisited his government's rejection of international health directives during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. He characterized multilateral lockdowns as a global experiment in social control and reiterated Argentina's formal withdrawal from the World Health Organization during 2025. Milei emphasized that Argentina intends to participate in international bodies without yielding sovereign decision-making power, drawing a distinction between cooperation and institutional subordination. His remarks reflected a foreign policy focused on territorial claims, technological deregulation, and close alignment with the United States and Israel.