ARGENTINA · POLITICS
Key Facts
- Trigger On 29 September 2026, Argentina’s Supreme Court revived a 2023 decree that repealed the country’s limits on foreign ownership of rural land.
- Special session Germán Martínez, leader of the opposition Unión por la Patria bloc, said on 30 September 2026 that it will request a session to reject the decree.
- Tentative date El Destape reported 15 October 2026 as a tentative date for the session in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house.
- Impeachment Deputy Juan Marino of Unión por la Patria said he will file an impeachment request against the Supreme Court, El Destape reported on 30 September 2026.
- Senate The Senate already rejected the decree in March 2024; under Argentine law, a decree falls only if both houses reject it.
The Argentina land law fight has moved from the courts to Congress, where the opposition targets President Javier Milei’s 2023 decree.
Opposition lawmakers in Argentina plan a special session of Congress to strike down the decree that scrapped limits on foreign land ownership. One deputy will also seek to impeach the Supreme Court, El Destape reported on 30 September 2026.
The ruling that set off the fight
On 29 September 2026, the three Supreme Court justices, Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Ricardo Lorenzetti, overturned a lower-court ruling. That ruling had blocked the repeal of the Rural Lands Law.
The 2011 law, known as Law 26,737, barred foreigners from owning more than 15% of Argentina’s rural land. President Javier Milei repealed it in December 2023 through Decree 70/2023, a sweeping deregulation package.
A federal appeals court in La Plata had declared that part of the decree unconstitutional on 21 March 2024. The Supreme Court did not rule on that question.
Instead, it found that the plaintiff, a group of veterans of the 1982 Falklands War, lacked standing to sue. The court said its ruling did not judge whether the repeal is constitutional.
Anger from veterans and the Peronist opposition
The veterans’ group, known as CECIM La Plata, reacted within hours. “This Court is unworthy,” it said, accusing the justices of having “put the Argentine Republic up for sale”.
Axel Kicillof, the Peronist governor of Buenos Aires province, called it “the ruling of infamy”. He said the government now sought through the courts what it had failed to win in Congress.
His point refers to an earlier retreat. Weeks before, the government had dropped its land-law changes from a property rights bill for lack of Senate votes.
Plan one: a special session in Congress
Decree 70/2023 is a decree of necessity and urgency, an emergency order that carries the force of law. Under Argentine law, it stays in force unless both houses of Congress reject it.
The Senate already voted against it in March 2024. The Chamber of Deputies, the 257-seat lower house, has not rejected it.
“We are going to request a session to reject Decree 70/23,” said Germán Martínez. He leads Unión por la Patria, the main Peronist bloc in the lower house.
El Destape reported 15 October 2026 as a tentative date for the session. Senator Mariano Recalde put the stakes plainly.
“If Deputies rejects it completely, we stop the sale of the country,” he said.
Plan two: impeaching the court
Juan Marino, a Unión por la Patria deputy, said he will file an impeachment request against the Supreme Court. Impeachment in Argentina needs a two-thirds vote in the lower house, then a two-thirds vote in the Senate to remove a judge.
Peronist senators also filed their own bill on 30 September to strike down the decree. The Socialist deputy Esteban Paulón had called for an urgent special session on the night of the ruling.
The numbers problem
A special session needs 129 deputies present to open. The deputy Juan Grabois said the bloc should call it “in a way that lets us win”.
Congress can only accept or reject a decree as a whole. Striking down Decree 70/2023 would therefore also undo its other reforms, not just the land-law repeal.
Deputies who support other parts of the decree would have to weigh that cost. Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, could instead fold land rules into its property rights bill.
Opposition sources told El Destape that this would take about two months.
Tension spills into the chamber
The mood showed on 30 September, during a committee debate on a government bill on sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. Grabois accused the ruling party of having a court that was “bought”.
The meeting ended abruptly after a heated exchange between Grabois and ruling-party deputies, El Destape reported. Recalde said that if one large street march had not been enough, the opposition would hold two.
What it means for foreign buyers
For now, the repeal stands, so the 15% cap no longer applies. Our earlier report explains what the ruling changed for foreign buyers of rural land.
The opposition says a rejection in the lower house would restore the limits. That vote has not been scheduled, so the legal ground for buyers can still shift.
The government has the court ruling on its side, while the opposition has a Senate vote already banked. The next weeks in Congress will show which way the land rules settle.
More: Argentina news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Argentina’s opposition fighting over the land law?
The Supreme Court on 29 September 2026 revived Milei’s 2023 decree, which repealed limits on foreign ownership of rural land. The opposition wants Congress to strike down the decree and restore the limits.
Can Congress still overturn the decree?
Yes. A decree of necessity and urgency falls if both houses reject it. The Senate did so in March 2024, so a rejection by the Chamber of Deputies would end it.
Will the Supreme Court justices be impeached?
That is unlikely to happen quickly. Deputy Juan Marino said he will file a request, but impeachment needs two-thirds majorities in both the lower house and the Senate.
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What is the background to Argentina Land Law?
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The Senate already rejected the decree in March 2024; under Argentine law, a decree falls only if both houses reject it.
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Sources: El Destape · El Destape · El Destape · El Destape · El Destape
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