A deal between the Malvinas Islands government and the city of Punta Arenas, in Chile, to establish a permanent maritime supply route may change the dynamics sustaining the archipelago’s economy, which until now had largely depended on Uruguayan ports as its primary resupply points in South America.

Tensions surrounding the sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the islands recently reached their highest level in years after Buenos Aires filed lawsuits and imposed sanctions on companies linked to an oil drilling project set to begin next year near the islands, known as Sea Lion. 

The project is led by Israeli firm Navitas Petroleum and British company Rockhopper Exploration.

The Malvinas-Punta Arenas deal has added another chapter to the diplomatic tensions. A delegation from Malvinas is scheduled to visit Punta Arenas in late September to advance negotiations on the deal, and the first ship is expected to set sail in November.

The agreement covers the provision of food, liquefied petroleum gas, machine supplies, construction materials, and other products needed for the oil drilling project’s infrastructure.

The Argentine government has yet to comment on the Punta Arenas-Malvinas deal, which was revealed on September 3, the exact same day that Argentine President Javier Milei visited Santiago to meet his right-wing counterpart, José Antonio Kast — who said the agreement was “between privates companies” and that Chile supported Argentina’s claim on Malvinas.

But a group of Argentine Malvinas War veterans demanded that Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno formally protest the........

© Buenos Aires Herald