The Argentine government is promoting the relaxation—or even elimination—of limits on the purchase of rural lands by foreigners.
The measure reopens the debate on the Law 26.737, enacted in 2011, which established a 15% cap on foreign ownership at the national, provincial, and municipal levels, in addition to restrictions in sensitive areas such as bodies of water and border areas.
The discussion is not merely technical: it is about who controls the territory and for what purposes. In a context of crisis and pressure to export more, land reappears as a strategic resource in salt flats, mining mountain ranges, and monoculture regions.
The foreignization in figures
- Total rural area: more than 266 million hectares.
- In foreign hands: around 13.2 million (≈5%).
- The national average hides the concentration in key territories: northwestern salt flats, mountain areas, and areas with access to fresh water.
Example: in the department of Tinogasta (Catamarca), out of 2.28 million hectares, more than 608,000 are in foreign hands, which is equivalent to 27% of the territory, well above the national limit.
Territory and extractivism
The relaxation of the law is presented as a way to attract investments. However, in territories like Andalgalá, Antofagasta de la Sierra, and Fiambalá, the expansion of lithium and copper projects redefines access to water, roads, and possible activities.
Land ceases to be just a means of production and becomes a global financial asset, within transnational investment circuits. This changes who has real power over life in those territories.
Legal asymmetries
While transnational companies have treaties and arbitrations to defend their investments, communities face weak legal frameworks. The prior, free, and informed consultation (ILO Convention 169) is poorly applied, and protests are often criminalized.
The liberalization of the land market is not neutral: it intervenes in territories already in dispute, tipping the balance towards actors with greater economic and legal power.
Global dimension
The energy transition increases the demand for lithium and copper, intensifying the pressure on the northwestern Argentine salt flats. The territories of the Global South absorb the costs of a process decided on another scale.
The Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights seeks to establish clear obligations and effective mechanisms for access to justice, closing the gap between corporate power and the defense capacity of territories.
Impact on peasants and small producers
Access to land remains a structural debt:
- Peasants and family producers face precarious tenure or inability to access their own lands.
- The concentration of large extensions in few hands limits legal security and productive support.
- Expanding conditions for foreign investment without discussing distribution reinforces structural inequality.
The relaxation of the Rural Lands Law not only redefines the real estate market: it reorganizes the Argentine territory based on transnational capital. The dispute is about sovereignty, access to water, and the ability of communities to decide on their territories.
In a country where access to land for those who work it remains limited, further opening the market to foreigners deepens inequality and compromises strategic resources.
