MR. PRESIDENT, HEADS OF STATE, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD: TODAY I ADDRESS YOU, FOR THE THIRD TIME, AS PRESIDENT OF ALL ARGENTINES.
WHEN WE TOOK OFFICE IN A COUNTRY IN RUINS, ON THE BRINK OF THE WORST CRISIS IN ITS HISTORY, WE HAD SOMETHING CLEAR FROM THE START: OUR PROBLEMS HAD TO BE FACED WITH ABSOLUTE SINCERITY. LYING TO OURSELVES TO FEEL BETTER WAS NOT GOING TO TAKE US ANYWHERE.
IT IS ALWAYS PREFERABLE TO TELL AN UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH RATHER THAN A COMFORTABLE LIE.
THAT IS WHY, BELIEVE ME, I KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT WHEN, IN A CONSTRUCTIVE SPIRIT, I POINT OUT THE PROBLEMS THIS Organization has, which seeks to guide and arbitrate among States.
IN THIS REGARD, TODAY I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT THREE ISSUES: FIRST, WHAT THIS BODY SHOULD HAVE DONE AND DID NOT DO; SECOND, WHAT IT SHOULD NOT HAVE DONE AND DID ANYWAY; AND THIRD, ITS POSITION WITH REGARD TO THE ADVENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
78 YEARS AGO THIS HOUSE DECLARED THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE BORN FREE AND EQUAL IN DIGNITY AND RIGHTS. NOBLE WORDS, WHOSE SPIRIT I FULLY SHARE.
AND TO THAT END IT COMMITTED ITSELF TO ENSURING RESPECT FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW, TO DEFENDING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF NATIONS AND TO PROVIDING A FORUM WHERE CONFLICTS WOULD BE RESOLVED THROUGH COOPERATION, INSTEAD OF BEING RESOLVED INSTANTLY BY ARMS.
THAT WAS THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE, THE CONTRACT WE ALL SIGNED. BUT TODAY, UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS TIME TO RECOGNIZE THAT THIS SACRED PACT, IN PRACTICE, WAS BROKEN. THAT IS, IT BECAME A USELESS ORGANIZATION, WHICH SERVES ONLY TO FEED A CASTE OF FATALLY ARROGANT PARASITES DISGUISED AS WELL-INTENTIONED BUREAUCRATS, TO WHOM I RECALL WHAT MISES SAID: GOOD PEOPLE DO NOT THINK ABOUT CONTROLLING THE LIVES OF THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.
THOSE WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO GUARANTEE COLLECTIVE SECURITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS FAILED IN THAT TASK. AND INSTEAD THEY ALLOWED CHAOS, VIOLENCE AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.
THE SUPPOSED DEFENDERS OF HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE COVERED FOR BLOODTHIRSTY DICTATORSHIPS AND REGIMES THAT STONE WOMEN IN THE STREET.
THEY HAVE SYSTEMATICALLY VOTED AGAINST ISRAEL, WHILE REMAINING SILENT IN THE FACE OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM AND THE GENOCIDES OF CHRISTIANS IN AFRICA.
AND AS IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, AN ORGANIZATION THAT SET OUT TO DEFEND THE TERRITORIAL SOVEREIGNTY OF ITS MEMBERS DECIDED TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY REGARDING THE SITUATION IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS), SOUTH GEORGIA, SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS AND THE SURROUNDING MARITIME AREAS.
THE QUESTION OF THE MALVINAS IS, FOR US, A NATIONAL CAUSE. AND IT IS ALSO PROOF OF THE DISTANCE THAT CAN EXIST BETWEEN THE WORDS OF INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND THE REALITY UPON WHICH THEY SEEK TO ACT.
FIFTY YEARS AGO, THIS VERY ASSEMBLY ADOPTED RESOLUTION 31/49, WHICH URGES THE PARTIES TO REFRAIN FROM INTRODUCING UNILATERAL MODIFICATIONS WHILE THE DISPUTE REMAINED OPEN.
FIFTY YEARS LATER, THE SITUATION HAS NOT CHANGED, BUT THE UNILATERAL MODIFICATIONS CONTINUE.
TODAY, THE SEA LION PROJECT IS MOVING TOWARD OIL EXTRACTION ON THE ARGENTINE CONTINENTAL SHELF CORRESPONDING TO THE NORTH MALVINAS BASIN, THROUGH BRITISH LICENCES THAT ARGENTINA REJECTS AS ILLEGAL AND ILLEGITIMATE.
ANY ACTION IN THAT REGARD, NOT AUTHORIZED BY THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, CONSTITUTES AN UNLAWFUL ACT BOTH IN THE LIGHT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, INCLUDING THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA, AND OF ARGENTINE DOMESTIC LAW.
THAT IS WHY I WANT TO ASK A QUESTION: WHAT IS THE USE OF A RESOLUTION IF, FOR DECADES, THE OTHER PARTY CAN ACT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, AND THAT RESOLUTION REMAINS INTACT IN THE ARCHIVES, BUT POWERLESS IN THE FACE OF REALITY?
THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF WORDS OR RESOLUTIONS. WHAT IS LACKING IS FOR THEM TO HAVE CONSEQUENCES. BECAUSE AN INSTITUTION THAT CANNOT MAKE ITS WORD CARRY WEIGHT OVER THE FACTS LOSES WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT. IT LOSES ITS AUTHORITY.
UNDER THIS REALITY, THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE RULES RECEIVE NO REWARD WHATSOEVER FOR DOING SO, WHILE THOSE WHO FAIL TO COMPLY DO NOT RECEIVE THE SLIGHTEST REPRISAL.
THAT IS WHY THE QUESTION OF THE MALVINAS IS NOT MERELY A MATTER BETWEEN ARGENTINA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. IT ALSO RAISES A QUESTION ABOUT THE CAPACITY OF THIS ORGANIZATION TO ENFORCE ITS OWN RESOLUTIONS.
ARGENTINA TOOK NOTE OF THAT REALITY, AND IN THE FACE OF THE UNAUTHORIZED EXPLOITATION OF OUR RESOURCES IN THE AREA UNDER DISPUTE, WE ACTED. WE SUBMITTED NOTES OF PROTEST, WE RESORTED TO THE AVAILABLE LEGAL TOOLS, WE SANCTIONED THE COMPANIES INVOLVED AND THEIR SUPPLIERS, AND WE SENT TO CONGRESS A LAW FOR THE DEFENCE OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY.
FOR FAR TOO LONG ARGENTINE GOVERNMENTS CHOSE A DISCURSIVE DEFENCE; WE CHOSE A PEACEFUL, PRACTICAL AND EFFECTIVE DEFENCE.
I ALSO WANT TO REITERATE THE SITUATION OF THE POPULATION OF THE ISLANDS. AS THIS VERY ASSEMBLY HAS DETERMINED IN NUMEROUS RESOLUTIONS, THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF-DETERMINATION DOES NOT APPLY IN THIS CASE, SINCE IT IS A POPULATION IMPLANTED BY THE OCCUPYING POWER ON A TERRITORY WHOSE SOVEREIGNTY IS IN DISPUTE.
THAT PRINCIPLE EXISTS TO LIBERATE COLONIZED PEOPLES, NOT TO CONSECRATE SITUATIONS DERIVED FROM COLONIZATION.
IF THE UNITED KINGDOM MAINTAINS A SELECTIVE INTERPRETATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF-DETERMINATION WITH REGARD TO THE FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS), IT MUST ALSO EXPLAIN HOW IT RECONCILES THAT CRITERION WITH THE DEBATES ON SELF-DETERMINATION EXISTING WITHIN ITS OWN TERRITORY.
TO THE UNITED KINGDOM WE ONCE AGAIN REITERATE OUR CALL TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS TO FIND A PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO THE SOVEREIGNTY DISPUTE, AS REQUIRED BY INTERNATIONAL LAW. AND ALSO OUR INVITATION TO PROCEED WITHOUT DELAY TO EXCHANGE VIEWS WITH A VIEW TO RESOLVING THE QUESTION RELATING TO THE AFOREMENTIONED DISPUTE ON THE EXPLOITATION OF OUR NATURAL RESOURCES.
AND TO THE GLOBAL ENERGY SECTOR I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING MORE. VACA MUERTA IS A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY, WITH THE POTENTIAL TO BE ONE OF THE GREAT ENERGY LEADERS OF THE COMING DECADES. COME.
INVEST. DEVELOP IT WITH US.
BUT THIS INVITATION HAS A LIMIT: WE WILL NOT BE INDIFFERENT TOWARDS THOSE WHO EXPLOIT RESOURCES UNDER ILLEGAL FOREIGN OCCUPATION. ARGENTINA'S POSITION IS SETTLED.
TODAY I COME TO TELL YOU THAT ARGENTINA IS NOT GOING TO SIT AND WAIT FOR THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO RISE TO THE LEVEL OF THEIR OWN MANDATE. IT IS GOING TO TAKE ACTION ON THE MATTER.
FOR FAR TOO LONG, ARGENTINA MANAGED ITS DECLINE.
WE MANAGED POVERTY.
WE MANAGED ISOLATION. WE MANAGED IRRELEVANCE.
WE GREW ACCUSTOMED TO DISCUSSING HOW TO DISTRIBUTE WHAT REMAINED, INSTEAD OF ASKING OURSELVES HOW TO GROW AGAIN, HOW TO REBUILD THAT WHICH WE HAD LOST. THAT IS OVER. WE HAVE ALREADY LOST TOO MUCH. WE DO NOT WANT TO LOSE AGAIN.
THAT IS WHY WE EMBRACE FREE-ENTERPRISE CAPITALISM, WE ARE OPENING OUR ECONOMY TO TRADE AND TO INVESTMENT; WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR STRATEGIC RESOURCES; WE EMBRACE THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION; AND WE ARE REBUILDING OUR MILITARY INSTRUMENT AFTER DECADES OF NEGLECT.
WE HAVE ALSO MADE A GEOPOLITICAL CHOICE. WE HAVE ALIGNED OURSELVES UNAMBIGUOUSLY WITH THE WEST, WITH THE UNITED STATES AND WITH ISRAEL, COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE SHARE A DEEP AFFINITY OF VALUES AND A STRATEGIC COMPLEMENTARITY.
THAT IS WHY WE REPUDIATE THE ATTACKS OF THE IRANIAN REGIME ON THE STATE OF ISRAEL, WE HAVE DECLARED THE IRANIAN REVOLUTIONARY GUARD A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, JUST AS WE CONTINUE TO SEEK JUSTICE FOR THE TWO ATTACKS WE SUFFERED ON ARGENTINE SOIL IN 1992 AND 1994.
WE HAVE DECIDED TO COOPERATE WITH THE WORLD, BUT TO DO SO STANDING UPRIGHT.
UNDERSTANDING THAT ONLY A NATION THAT IS POLITICALLY RELEVANT, ECONOMICALLY INFLUENTIAL AND MILITARILY RESPECTABLE CAN TRULY BE THE MASTER OF ITS DESTINY.
PAUSE ///// MR. PRESIDENT: JUST AS I SHOWED YOU HOW THE UNITED NATIONS FAILED TO FULFIL WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO. NOW I WANT TO TELL YOU HOW IT EXCELLED AT DOING WHAT NO ONE ASKED IT TO DO, AND WHAT IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE DONE. BECAUSE IN PARALLEL TO THIS FAILURE, THEY HAVE ERECTED A BUREAUCRATIC LEVIATHAN DEVOTED TO DECIDING HOW THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD AND THEIR CITIZENS MUST LIVE.
THIS CONSTITUTES A CURIOUS MIXTURE OF ANARCHY AND TYRANNY: IMPOTENCE IN THE FACE OF THOSE WHO BREAK THE MOST BASIC RULES, SUCH AS BLOODY DICTATORSHIPS AND TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, AND ORWELLIAN CONTROL AND IMPOSITIONS TOWARDS THE LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES THAT DO COMPLY WITH THE RULES.
WE SAW IT WITH THE NEW MILLENNIUM AGENDA. WE SAW IT WITH THE 2030 AGENDA. WITH ECONOMIC REGULATION, GENDER AGENDAS, ENVIRONMENTAL EXTREMISM AND UNCONTROLLED IMMIGRATION.
AND EVERY TIME THEY FAILED, INSTEAD OF REVIEWING THE MODEL OR APOLOGIZING, THEY RAISED THE STAKES, AS THEY ARE ALREADY DOING WITH THE 2045 AGENDA. BUT THE MOST SERIOUS EXAMPLE, THE ONE THAT SHOULD SHAME THIS ORGANIZATION FOREVER, IS ANOTHER. IT IS THE PANDEMIC.
DURING THE PANDEMIC, BODIES THAT DEPEND ON THIS HOUSE PLACED THEMSELVES ABOVE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF NATIONS, AND PROMOTED, ALL OVER THE WORLD, POLICIES OF FORCED CONFINEMENT THAT DESTROYED JOBS, RUINED THE EDUCATION OF AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF CHILDREN AND COST THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO DIED ALONE, WITHOUT BASIC MEDICAL CARE.
WHERE SOME ALLEGE AN ERROR OF PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY, WE SEE A GLOBAL EXPERIMENT IN SOCIAL CONTROL DISGUISED AS SCIENCE.
AND WHEN A STATE, WEARING HEALTH BLINDERS, STRIPS ITS POPULATION OF THE RIGHT TO WORK, TO BE EDUCATED, TO BID FAREWELL TO THEIR DEAD, AND THAT TRANSLATES INTO MILLIONS OF AVOIDABLE DEATHS, THERE IS A WORD TO NAME IT: GENOCIDE. THAT HAPPENED IN MANY COUNTRIES, AMONG THEM ARGENTINA, WHICH BOASTED OF BEING THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S FAVORITE PUPIL, AND THE REASON FOR WHICH WE DECIDED TO LEAVE IT.
TO THAT IS ADDED SOMETHING MORE SUBTLE, BUT JUST AS HARMFUL: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR INSTALLED BY THE STATE.
FOR YEARS, THE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD WERE TOLD THAT THEY HAD TO BE AFRAID: AFRAID OF THEIR NEIGHBOUR, OF THE AIR THEY BREATHED, OF LEAVING THEIR HOMES.
THAT FEAR WAS NOT A SIDE EFFECT, IT WAS THE CHOSEN TOOL OF GOVERNMENT.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT LATER THE EMERGENCIES PASS. THE FEAR PASSES.
THE GENERATIONS PASS.
AND THE INSTITUTIONS AND POWERS CREATED ON ACCOUNT OF THOSE SUPPOSED EMERGENCIES REMAIN.
AND IF FOR A MOMENT WE ENTERTAINED THE HOPE THAT THE LESSON HAD BEEN LEARNED AFTER SO MANY FAILURES, THE ARRIVAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SHOWS US THE OPPOSITE.
THE PRINTING PRESS. THE STEAM ENGINE. ELECTRICITY.
THE INTERNET. EVERY GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION WAS ACCOMPANIED BY FEARS ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD DESTROY, ESPECIALLY EMPLOYMENT. WITHOUT A DOUBT, ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO SOW TERROR IN HUMAN BEINGS, GIVEN THE ROLE THAT WORK PLAYS AS A MECHANISM OF SUPPORT.
TAKE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AS AN EXAMPLE.
AT THE TIME OF ITS ARRIVAL, SOME 800 MILLION HUMAN BEINGS INHABITED THE WORLD.
IN TURN, IF, IN LINE WITH THE LUDDITES AND THE USUAL PESSIMISTS, IN THE BEST-CASE SCENARIO EMPLOYMENT HAD REMAINED CONSTANT, GIVEN THAT TODAY THE POPULATION HAS MULTIPLIED BY MORE THAN TEN TIMES, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN THE WORLD WOULD BE 90 PER CENT.
AN ABSURDITY, SOMETHING THAT IT SEEMS FEW HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO REFLECT UPON, EXCEPT THOSE OF US WHO HAVE THE PASSION OF READING JORGE LUIS BORGES AND LOVE HIS VIEW OF VALIDATING AN IDEA BY TAKING IT TO ITS LIMIT.
IN SHORT, THESE TECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENTS NOT ONLY HAVE NOT RESULTED IN ANY OF THE CATASTROPHES WITH THE that they have tried to sow terror in us, but that moreover, each of them also ended up expanding what the human being was capable of doing.
Now man has built machines capable of carrying out tasks that until very recently seemed reserved to his own intelligence. And where many see a threat, we see a frontier.
Artificial intelligence can multiply our productivity by orders of magnitude that we still do not understand.
Invoking Adam Smith, artificial intelligence will be the pin factory of the twenty-first century, and much more.
It can transform our economies, our medicine, our education and even our way of governing.
That requires prudence, yes. But prudence does not mean fear. And, what is more, fear, from no point of view, should automatically become obedience.
In fact, the dystopian scenarios that are usually invoked to instill fear and foster State control make no sense from the economic point of view.
The answer lies in Adam Smith. Artificial intelligence, just like the division of labour in the case of the pin factory, is an accelerator for productivity growth. However, Smith pointed out that the division of labour is limited by the size of the market. Therefore, growth will be extinguished together with its counterpart of genuine demand, without fiscal deficits or spurious issuance of money.
But not only that; moreover, those projects have to be financed and that is done with the resources of human beings, that is, their initial endowments and the level of wealth, which is the counterpart of the size of the market. What is more, the purpose of producing more is a higher level of consumption; however, the satisfaction that it generates grows at a diminishing rate, while the loss of satisfaction from giving up leisure for greater production grows disproportionately.
Therefore, that point where what is gained through a greater amount of consumption is equated with the loss of leisure leads the system to an equilibrium position with no room for dystopian terror.
That is why, when we hear that the State must control artificial intelligence, it is worth remembering something elementary: the State is not an abstract creature, but men, officials and bureaucrats.
And to grant it control over innovation is to grant some, in the best and most naive of cases, the power to limit what others can create.
History gives us reasons to examine such power carefully: for centuries, fear of tomorrow was an argument for restricting freedoms in the present, with the same promise: give us part of your freedom and we will protect you from this new threat.
We will apply a different principle... in the face of uncertainty, we propose determination. In the face of fear, courage. In the face of decline, ambition. And in the face of resignation, we propose optimism.
That is why I say to you, in the face of artificial intelligence, Argentina will place itself at the vanguard of freedom.
We have the critical minerals, the energy, the talent and the capacity to compete in every link of that value chain. And we want to be the most competitive place in the world to develop it, with a cutting-edge legal framework, the commitment not to regulate preventively, limited liability for companies operating with AI agents, and tax benefits.
Because artificial intelligence is not a geopolitically neutral matter: it is necessary for the West to lead the development of technology, in order to ensure that it is in keeping with our fundamental libertarian values, such as respect for life, liberty, private property and the notion of human dignity.
In this, we fully share the vision of President Trump Mr. President; We are living through one of those strange moments in history in which one world begins to disappear before the next has finished being born.
They are dangerous moments. But they are also extraordinary moments.
Because during long periods of stability, nations administer the world they inherited.
In periods of transformation, some have the opportunity to build the world to come. Argentina wants to be one of them.
We will continue to form part of multilateral forums, in good faith, because there are problems that require joint work.
But we do not confuse cooperation with subordination: we believe in alliances and, before anything else, in nations.
Argentina speaks of this with the experience of one who knows its own mistakes.
We know the cost of isolation. We know the cost of destroying a currency. We know the cost of turning the State into a permanent obstacle to human initiative.
For a century we tried almost every way of preventing our own greatness. And we survived, not intact, but we survived. And perhaps for that reason today we understand something that other nations may forget: decline is not a destiny, but the result of repeated decisions. And if that course can be chosen, it can also be changed. That is what Argentina is trying to do.
We have the energy the world will need. We have food. We have critical minerals. We have human talent. We have the South Atlantic and we are a natural gateway to Antarctica.
And we have something that for too long we lacked: the will to transform our possibilities into national power.
We want a prosperous, influential and powerful Argentina. Not to subjugate others, but to be free. Not to conquer others, but so that our destiny may be decided by Argentines.
Therefore, to the free men and women of the world, to To the scientists, to the entrepreneurs, to the creators, to those who dreamed of a land where they could begin anew, I say: look to the south.
You will find a vast land, of fertile fields, of oil, of minerals, and of human talent.
A land that received millions who crossed oceans in the hope that their children would live better than they did, and built one of the most prosperous nations on Earth. We have the responsibility to live up to that.
We do not know exactly what the world that is being born will be like. But we do know what kind of nation we want to be when it arrives.
A free nation. A prosperous nation. A sovereign nation. A nation capable of defending what is its own and open to the world. A nation that is not afraid to once again utter a word that for too long seemed forbidden: greatness.
No nation has a guaranteed place in history: it is built generation after generation, with work, with freedom, and with the will of a people who refuse to accept that their best days are behind them.
We believe that Argentina still has a great history ahead of it. And we have decided to go in search of it.
May God bless all the peoples of the world.
May God bless the Argentine Republic.
May the forces of Heaven be with us.
Long live freedom, damn it.