{"id":45882,"date":"2026-04-09T16:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=45882"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:41:41","slug":"argentina-approves-mileis-glacier-mining-bill-amid-environmental-protests-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=45882","title":{"rendered":"Argentina approves Milei\u2019s glacier mining bill amid environmental protests | Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Argentina\u2019s congress has approved a bill promoted by the libertarian president, Javier Milei<\/a>, that authorises mining in ecologically sensitive areas of glaciers and permafrost, outraging environmentalists.<\/p>\n

The amendment to the \u201cglacier law\u201d, which was already approved by the senate in February, would make it easier to mine for metals such as copper, lithium and silver in frozen parts of the Andes mountains.<\/p>\n

The chamber of deputies, Argentina\u2019s lower house of congress, approved the amendment with 137 votes in favour, 111 against and three abstentions after nearly 12 hours of debate. Environmentalists say the legislative changes will weaken protections for crucial water sources.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people protested outside parliament on Wednesday in a demonstration marked by isolated skirmishes with police. Some held banners with slogans such as \u201cWater is more precious than gold!\u201d and \u201cA glacier destroyed cannot be restored!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Environmental protesters in Buenos Aires clash with police on Wednesday outside parliament.<\/span> Photograph: Tom\u00e1s Cuesta\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seven Greenpeace<\/a> activists were arrested earlier in the day after scaling a statue outside parliament and unfurling a banner urging lawmakers \u201cnot to betray the Argentine people\u201d.<\/p>\n

The passage of the amendment is a new coup for Milei, who pushed through looser labour laws in February<\/a> despite repeated street protests. Nicol\u00e1s Mayoraz, an MP from Milei\u2019s ruling La Libertad Avanza party, assured lawmakers that combining \u201cenvironmental protection and sustainable development is possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

The environmental activist Flavia Broffoni said after the protest: \u201cThe science is clear \u2026 there is absolutely no possibility of creating what they call a \u2018sustainable mine\u2019 in a periglacial environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are nearly 17,000 glaciers or rock glaciers, a mix of rock and ice, in Argentina, according to a 2018 inventory. In the north-west, where mining is concentrated, glacial reserves have shrunk by 17% in the last decade, mainly because of climate change, according to the Argentine Institute of Snow Research, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>The Andean mountains in Argentinian provinces such as San Juan, pictured, will be more widely mined as a result of the new legislation.<\/span> Photograph: Agust\u00edn Marcarian\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Milei, a free-market radical who does not believe in human-made climate change, says the bill is necessary to attract large-scale mining projects. Argentina is a major producer of lithium, which is critical to the global tech and green energy sectors.<\/p>\n

The Central Bank of Argentina has estimated, based on industry forecasts, that the country could triple its mining exports by 2030. Milei has argued that: \u201cEnvironmentalists would rather see us starve than have anything touched.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Supporters of the bill argued that it would clear up ambiguities in the existing law, dating from 2010, on which periglacial areas \u2013 areas on the edges of glaciers \u2013 could be developed economically. \u201cWe want legal certainty, we want clear definitions,\u201d said Michael Meding, the managing director of the Los Azules copper mining project in San Juan province.<\/p>\n

Enrique Viale, the president of the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers, said the change in legislation threatened the water supply for 70% of Argentinians.<\/p>\n

Under the existing law, a scientific body designates protected glaciers and periglacial environments. The new legislation would give individual provinces more powers to decide which areas needed protection and which could be exploited for economic purposes.<\/p>\n

It has been backed by the governors of northern Andean provinces with strong mining sectors, namely Mendoza, San Juan, Catamarca and Salta.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Argentina\u2019s congress has approved a bill promoted by the libertarian president, Javier Milei, that authorises mining in ecologically sensitive areas of glaciers and permafrost, outraging environmentalists.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}