Argentine government pulls chapter on land sales to foreigners from Senate debate

Argentina's ruling coalition withdrew a chapter on land sales to foreigners from the Senate's agenda on Wednesday. The bloc lacked sufficient votes to pass the chapter, which detailed the rural land regime, hours before the scheduled Thursday session. A spokesperson for the La Libertad Avanza bloc and its allies announced the unanimous, consensus-driven decision at a meeting chaired by Senator Patricia Bullrich.

The withdrawal came after several governors informed their senators they would vote against the chapter, including Tucumán's Osvaldo Jaldo and Neuquén's Rolando Figueroa. The chapter was reintroduced on March 27, after multiple versions of the committee report. A demonstration is planned for Thursday outside Congress, with the slogan "The homeland is not for sale."

A poll from July 28 showed 77% support for limiting foreign land purchases. The law, enacted in 2011, restricts foreigners to holding less than 15% of rural land at national, provincial, and municipal levels, with a 1,000-hectare limit for any single foreign holder in the core farming region. The original bill eliminated the cap, but faced resistance.

The government offered a 25% increase, which would only apply at the provincial level, removing the national and municipal limits. The National Registry of Rural Land data reveals no province near the cap, with several exceeding it significantly. The Land Observatory estimates 13.2 million hectares are in foreign hands, representing nearly 5% of the national territory.

The bill's proponents argue it opens the territory to market logic without adequate safeguards. The rest of the initiative, which includes a restrictive interpretation of public utility in expropriations, faster evictions, and changes to the Real Estate Property Registry, will be debated on Thursday.