Milei says what would happen to the inhabitants of the Malvinas if Argentina regained the islands

Argentine President Javier Milei stated on Thursday, during a conversation with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of New York, that the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands* would be treated "with dignity and justice" should Buenos Aires succeed in regaining sovereignty over the archipelago.

Micklethwait specifically asked what would happen to the islands' approximately 3,600 inhabitants if Argentina were to reclaim the territory, and whether he would offer them money to leave or send Argentine settlers. "First, I need to succeed," Milei replied.

 "I am very clear that those people will be treated with dignity and justice. We are not going to kick them out, as the United Kingdom did, imposing a different population instead," he added.

 The leader also revisited one of the central points of the dispute between Buenos Aires and London: the status of the archipelago's inhabitants.

 "They are not an indigenous people, because the indigenous population was displaced by Great Britain, which imposed a different population," he stated. "We are the owners of the islands, by geography, by right, and by history," he added, while affirming that Argentina would respect the dignity of those currently living there.

* Falkland Islands