A federal court in Río Grande, Argentina, has ordered a halt to construction work on the Sea Lion oil project near the Falkland Islands, according to Página|12. The ruling was issued by a federal judge and reported by the outlet on Wednesday.
Página|12 described the project as a British and Israeli venture and framed the decision as a check on what it called the English plundering of Malvinas oil. The ruling applies to work on the project, per the outlet's account.
Coverage of the decision circulated across several Argentine outlets. Filo News also reported that the Federal Court of Río Grande ordered work on the Sea Lion project stopped. Diario El Día de La Plata reported that veterans of the Malvinas conflict were involved in halting the project.
The ruling lands amid wider movement on the issue in Buenos Aires. According to Clarín, the Argentine government is finalizing details to send a Malvinas-related bill to Congress and is moving to tighten its aircraft shoot-down law.
Argentina has long disputed sovereignty over the islands, which it calls Malvinas and Britain calls the Falklands. The Sea Lion project has drawn Argentine objections over resource development in the disputed area.
What to watch next: whether the government's Malvinas bill reaches Congress and how the parties behind the Sea Lion project respond to the court order.