The “Malvinas are Argentine” flag became the most replicated symbol of the World Cup, from the National Team to rival fans in South America. At the same time, drivers and union representatives denounce something that contradicts this climate: transportation companies—among them the DOTA Group—have begun to remove that same legend from buses and trains. Coincidence of timing or sign of something else?
While the Argentine National Team displayed the “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” flag in the match against England and the gesture was replicated on fields throughout the country—from Argentinos Juniors to Tigre, passing by Cienciano fans in Lanús—, a conflict of opposite nature began to circulate behind closed doors on public transportation. Drivers and union representatives denounced that bus companies, and also railway formations, received directives to remove maps and decals with that same slogan from the sides of the units.
Among the lines mentioned by the workers is the DOTA Group, the largest operator of the bus system in the metropolitan area. According to testimonies, the removal order would have been given after the match against England, although the temporal coincidence alone does not allow establishing a direct causal relationship between both events. The decal in question is not an ornament: its display is regulated by Law 27,023, passed in 2014 and regulated in 2022, which requires all public transport of passengers of national origin – urban buses, medium and long distance, trains, ships and aircraft – to carry the legend in a visible space.
If the drivers’ complaint is confirmed, the removal would constitute a plain and simple breach of that rule. None of the aforementioned companies have yet come out to give public explanations about the measure, and it is not clear whether there was a formal instruction from the national government or whether the decision came directly from the transport companies on their own.
There appears the question that runs through the union’s claim: why lower right now a symbol that, far from generating controversy, has been celebrated transversally in every court in the country? A hypothesis that circulates among the workers themselves is that the measure seeks to avoid any association between the claim of sovereignty and the climate of popular demand that the World Cup revived. But this is, for now, a reading and not a confirmed fact.
The political background is not minor. A recent survey had indicated that two out of every three Argentines consider that the Government of Javier Milei does not care about the Malvinas cause, in a context where the claim to sovereignty has once again firmly established itself in the public conversation thanks to football. That the complaint about the removal of the stickers emerges simultaneously with this piece of public opinion fuels suspicion, although again, without there yet being official confirmation that both things are connected.
The transport unions, meanwhile, did not let the episode pass. For the delegates who reported the situation, this is a measure that should be reversed immediately because it is a legal obligation and not a discretionary decision by the companies. The discussion, in that sense, was no longer just symbolic: there is a law involved, and its eventual non-compliance could lead to sanctions if the complaint proceeds through the corresponding channel.
For now there is no independent confirmation of how many units were actually intervened or whether the measure is still in progress or was stopped after public repercussions. It is also not clear if the drivers’ claim will lead to a formal complaint before the Transportation authorities. What does remain is the contrast: in the same week that Malvinas became the most replicated gesture in Argentine football, someone decided that it should not be seen on public transport.
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