The closest development port to Antarctica, a gateway to the continent
US Southern Command Chief Admiral Alvin Holsey visited Argentina to support construction of an integrated naval base in Ushuaia, positioned as the gateway to Antarctica. The $360 million project reflects Washington's broader strategy to displace Chinese influence in Latin America and control key maritime passages amid great power competition.
- Admiral Alvin Holsey visited Ushuaia for the second time in a year as head of US Southern Command
- The integrated naval base project costs approximately $360 million
- Ushuaia sits 1,000 kilometers from Antarctica, closer than any other major Southern Hemisphere port
- Provincial Governor Gustavo Melella opposes the base, citing concerns about British interests in the South Atlantic
The US Southern Command visits Argentina's Ushuaia to advance a strategic naval base project aimed at countering Chinese influence and securing Antarctic access, marking a second visit in a year.
Admiral Alvin Holsey, commander of the United States Southern Command, stepped off a plane in Ushuaia this week for the second time in a year. The city sits at the southern tip of Argentina, a place of 80,000 people clinging to the edge of the continent, just 1,000 kilometers from Antarctica. Holsey's three-day visit to Argentina began in Buenos Aires, where he met with President Javier Milei, Defense Minister Luis Petri, and the country's military leadership. But the real purpose of the trip lay further south, in Ushuaia itself, where the United States and Argentina are planning to build something neither country has built before: an integrated naval base designed to project power across the Southern Ocean and toward the Antarctic continent.
The base represents a significant shift in how Washington sees Latin America's role in great power competition. For years, the region was treated as a secondary theater. Now, as the United States competes with China for influence across the hemisphere, Antarctica and the waters surrounding it have become strategically vital. The project Milei announced a year ago, during a visit from Holsey's predecessor, General Laura Richardson, envisions a naval installation with its own facilities, a private sector component for maintenance and repairs, and a major logistics hub. Unofficial estimates put the cost at around $360 million, though the Argentine government has not released official figures. The base would serve as what Milei called "the closest development port to Antarctica" and position both nations as gatekeepers to the continent.
What makes Ushuaia attractive is geography. It sits closer to Antarctica than any other major port in the Southern Hemisphere—closer than Punta Arenas in Chile, closer than ports in South Africa, New Zealand, or Australia. That proximity matters enormously in a world where polar regions are becoming flashpoints for superpower rivalry. The Arctic, in the north, has already seen intense competition between the United States, Russia, and China, driven by climate change opening new shipping routes and revealing mineral resources. The Antarctic, long treated as a scientific preserve, is now being viewed through the same lens of strategic competition and economic opportunity.
The timing of Holsey's visit reflects Washington's broader calculation about Latin America. The Trump administration is simultaneously pressuring Panama over control of the Panama Canal while supporting Argentina's Antarctic initiative. Both moves aim at the same target: displacing China from strategic chokepoints and passages that control global commerce. In recent years, Chinese investment and influence have grown substantially across Latin America. The previous Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, had explored Chinese financing for the Ushuaia project, but those talks never materialized. When Milei took office and signaled alignment with the United States, Washington moved quickly to support his vision for the base.
Yet the project has exposed fractures within Argentina itself. Gustavo Melella, the provincial governor and a member of the opposition Peronist party, has criticized the base twice now—once a year ago and again this week. He frames the issue through the lens of the Falkland Islands dispute, arguing that the base could serve British interests in the South Atlantic. "We do not support and will not support the installation of military bases or radars that could be functional to British interests in the South Atlantic," Melella said. At the national level, much of the Peronist opposition shares his concern, viewing Milei's alignment with Washington as a departure from the balanced approach his predecessors maintained between the two superpowers.
The official justification for the base centers on protecting maritime routes critical to global trade. That is true enough. But the deeper story is about a world in which the poles themselves have become contested territory. As climate change reshapes what is possible in the Arctic and Antarctic, as new shipping routes open and new resources become accessible, the great powers are positioning themselves. The United States sees in Ushuaia an opportunity to anchor its presence in the Southern Hemisphere, to ensure that when decisions are made about Antarctica's future, American interests are represented. For Argentina, the base offers investment, military modernization, and a seat at the table in a competition that will shape the coming decades. The question now is whether the political divisions the project has exposed at home will slow its progress, or whether the strategic logic will prove too compelling to resist.
Citações Notáveis
The closest development port to Antarctica and a gateway to the continent for both nations— President Javier Milei, describing the purpose of the base
We do not support and will not support the installation of military bases or radars that could be functional to British interests in the South Atlantic— Governor Gustavo Melella, opposing the project
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a naval base in Ushuaia matter so much to Washington right now?
Because Antarctica is no longer just a place for scientists. It's becoming a chessboard. The US sees China advancing across Latin America, and it needs to ensure that when the Antarctic continent's future is decided—resources, shipping, territorial claims—America has leverage. Ushuaia is the closest port. That proximity is everything.
But Antarctica has been treated as neutral territory for decades, hasn't it?
Yes, under the Antarctic Treaty. But treaties can be renegotiated or reinterpreted. And in the meantime, whoever has the logistics, the presence, the infrastructure—they have influence. The US is watching what happened in the Arctic and doesn't want to be caught flat-footed in the south.
Why is the Argentine governor so opposed? He seems to be making it about the Falklands.
He is, partly. But his real concern is that Argentina is choosing a side in a way it hasn't before. For decades, Argentine presidents tried to balance between Washington and Beijing. Milei has broken that balance. For Peronists, that feels like surrendering leverage—and it opens old wounds about who controls what in the South Atlantic.
Is the base actually going to be built?
That's the open question. The political opposition is real, and it's not just noise. But the strategic logic is compelling enough that it probably will be. The money is there, the US commitment is clear, and Milei has the political will. The governor can object, but he can't stop it.
What does this mean for China?
It means China's window for influence in the Southern Hemisphere is closing. The US is drawing a line. If you want to operate in Antarctic waters, you'll be doing it in a space where American interests are embedded. That's a significant shift in how the hemisphere is organized.