The Port of Ushuaia, a cornerstone of the bicontinental province and Argentina's main logistics hub for Antarctica and the Malvina Islands, is experiencing its darkest hours since being transferred to provincial control in 1992. What began as a legislative maneuver to try to plug the financial hole of the Fuegian State Social Welfare Fund (OSEF) has ended up providing the perfect excuse for Javier Milei's national government to decree an intervention that deprives Tierra del Fuego of its most strategic asset.

Through Note NO-2025-139247837 , dated December 16, the Executive Director of the NATIONAL AGENCY OF PORTS AND NAVIGATION (ANPYN), Iñaki Arreseygor , ordered the intervention of the Provincial Directorate of Ports of Tierra del Fuego.

With this arsenal of technical failures and the diversion of $1.411 billion under his arm, Iñaki Arreseygor signed the end of the autonomy of the Provincial Directorate of Ports (DPP) of Tierra del Fuego on December 16 .

The trigger: Law 1596 and the union "betrayal"

The origins of this crisis can be traced back to the enactment of Provincial Law No. 1596. In a context of financial hardship for the provincial public health system, the Legislature authorized the Executive Branch to use the surplus funds of the Provincial Port Authority (DPP) to finance the OSEF deficit . However, what seemed like a domestic solution violated the fundamental principle of the Transfer Agreement signed during the presidency of Carlos Menem : the resources generated by the port must be reinvested exclusively in its infrastructure and operation.

The spark that ignited the fuse was the formal complaint filed by Juan Avellaneda , Secretary General of the local branch of the Union of Senior Railway Personnel (UPSF) . Avellaneda not only alerted authorities to the illegality of the misappropriation of funds, but also opened the door for the National Ports and Navigation Agency (ANPyN) , headed by Iñaki Miguel Arreseygor , to launch an unprecedented audit.

The arrival of the "technical interveners"

September 30 and October 1, 2025, were not ordinary days at the Ushuaia dock . A multidisciplinary commission from the National Ports and Natural Areas Administration (ANPyN) disembarked with a clear mandate: to audit every last screw and every last cent. The team included personnel from all levels: from Cristian Rigueiro (Technical Coordination Manager) and Ariel Cherubini (Port Engineering), to Mariano Multari (Administration and Finance) and Santiago Brusa (Legal Advisor).

What these officials found constitutes a story of "neglect and apathy" that justifies, according to the Nation, the exercise of federal "police power" .

The initial inspection report, which served as the basis for the subsequent intervention resolution, began to reveal a reality that Gustavo Melella's administration could not—or did not know how to—carry out effectively, efficiently, and with financial transparency.

Beyond the accounting books

While the initial focus was on the misappropriation of funds to OSEF, the national technicians, motivated by the union leader, broadened the scope of the investigation to include critical areas that are now part of the intervention file :

1.    The financial hole: Mariano Multari 's management team scrutinized the DPP's accounts. The data is conclusive: a discrepancy of $1,411,758,261 in the bank reconciliations that the province could not satisfactorily explain . While the surplus flowed to the social welfare program, the port operated with an investment in actual infrastructure of only 1.3% of its budget, compared to 55% allocated exclusively to staff salaries.

2.    Technological Obsolescence and Software: Marcos Mansueti 's (Systems) inspection revealed that the port's data center is a "ticking time bomb ." Servers with expired support, a complete lack of cybersecurity protocols at an international border, and a network infrastructure described as "rudimentary." For the Nation, the security of information related to international cargo and tourism is at "HIGH risk."

3.    The container and logistics area: Inspectors Javier Frias and José Olivera reported that the cargo handling area lacks the minimum standards for international port security (ISPS Code). The lack of operational cameras, inadequate access control, and the absence of modern stowage protocols were identified as a threat to the port's competitiveness.

The construction of the "Deplorable State"

Under the supervision of Carlos Sposaro (Deputy Director of Security), the National Parks and Natural Resources Administration (ANPyN) began documenting what they would call the "deplorable state" of the infrastructure . It wasn't just a matter of a lack of paint; it involved concerns about human safety and environmental protection. The preliminary technical report already warned that the continuation of provincial management under these conditions created a situation that "exceeds ordinary corrective powers."

This first act of the Tierra del Fuego port tragedy concludes with the certainty that the national government came not only to audit the misappropriation of funds to OSEF, but also to seize total control, which the Melella administration is handing over to them. The administrative "negligence" in managing the provincial treasury became the key that allowed Javier Milei's government to begin the process of dispossessing the province of its most important strategic asset.

In the next installment, we will detail the engineering reports that speak of "risk of collapse" and the final technical justification that sealed the intervention for 12 months, leaving Tierra del Fuego without the management of its port in the middle of a record cruise season.