In October, the governor of Mendoza, Alfredo Cornejo, led the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs to reconsider the recognition of ancestral lands belonging to three Mapuche communities, potentially paving the way for the auction of public lands, 34 new copper exploration projects, and the creation of the Malargüe western mining district. The move comes on top of the national government’s decision to authorise the sale of federal lands.

Since taking office, Milei has radically shrunk the size of the state, including downgrading the environment ministry to an under-secretariat, while budgets for environmental protection have been reduced.

His “omnibus” reform law, 664 articles aimed at completely redrawing the legislature, included provisions to tear up the laws protecting glaciers and forests. The law was debated for months, during which both provisions were removed, but campaigners fear environmental protections will not stay off the chopping block for long.

Pia Marchegiani, deputy executive director of the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation, says Milei has already stated that his government will send new proposals to change environmental regulations to Congress. “His idea is that the state should be as small as possible with an extreme free-market approach,” she says.

Rigi makes Argentina the “most open for investment” country in South America’s lithium triangle, but at the cost of lax regulations, Marchegiani adds.

“The national agency is very weak and power lies with the provinces, which are smaller and highly dependent on royalties from the mining sector,” she says. “Milei’s environmental policy ignores the scientific evidence of the triple environmental crisis. It also squanders the opportunity to transform the production and consumption model, an effort that much of the world is undertaking.”