LLA fails to secure Senate votes, postpones reform bill on private property

Updated Thursday 4.30 p.m. The Senate debate over a reform bill filed by President Javier Milei aimed at protecting private property was postponed this Thursday after ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) failed to secure enough votes to pass the initiative.  The debate over the bill, which includes a proposal to limit state expropriations and loosen restrictions on the purchase of rural land in Argentina by foreigners, was adjourned until August 6. The bill The bill was designed by Deregulation Minister Federico Sturzenegger with the goal of “eliminating illegitimate restrictions that limit the essential content of the right to property, strengthening its protection, and continuing to promote legal certainty,” according to the proposal’s argumentative section. The provision was initially scheduled to be debated in June, but was postponed after quorum was not reached. To ensure support, LLA modified the text around a dozen times after some ally blocs expressed concern over certain aspects of the proposal.  Some of the changes requested by the ally parties include keeping a registry of informal settlements aimed at protecting the rights of their inhabitants, which the government initially intended to eliminate, as well as eliminating LLA’s proposal to create a protocol for “express evictions.” Rural land ownership One of the laws Milei wants to modify was approved in 2011 during ex-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s government, which limits how much Argentine land can be owned by foreigners, in order to preserve sovereignty over natural resources. The law establishes that no more than 15% of the total of rural land at a national, provincial and municipal level can be in foreign hands, either physical people or companies. Out of that 15%, up to 30% can be owned by people or entities of the same nationality. It also limits the amount of land one foreign owner can purchase in certain areas, while also banning them from buying land with important water bodies in them, such as rivers, lakes and glaciers, as well as land located in border security areas. The changes LLA wants to “lift the general restrictions imposed for the purchase of rural land by foreign buyers,” something which the 2011 law “criminalized,” said presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier in a press conference. “It is one thing to be a private investor, and another to be a foreign state,” Ravier said. The reform aims to “reinforce the provisions of the National Constitution that state property is an inalienable right,” something that has been undermined by “a century of legal uncertainty,” Ravier said.  “Argentina grew in part thanks to those who came from other countries, invested, produced, and became property owners. It makes no sense to keep closing the door on them,” the spokesman stated. “The law distinguishes between private investors and foreign governments, proposing to tighten controls on the latter, their companies, and the entities they control,” he added. The original version of the bill maintained the prohibition on the purchase of rural land by foreign states, but added that “exceptionally, they may own or possess rural land within the national territory in cases where the transaction does not pose a risk to national security, defense, and sovereignty,” according to the Herald‘s sister publication Ámbito. However, after ally parties protested, the final version clarified that foreign states and companies managed by other countries could not buy Argentine rural land, Ámbito reported. In the latter case, the province where the land is located and the national government could still authorize it by what is known as “administrative silence,” meaning that if they receive a request and they do not answer it with a rejection, it would be interpreted as a positive answer. Those would be the only two restrictions to such operations, lifting the restrictions on foreign investors.