Debt-saddled Argentina pitches 'golden passport' scheme to woo wealthy foreigners

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina on Friday announced plans to offer citizenship to wealthy foreigners in exchange for cash contributions or investments in government bonds, as libertarian President Javier Milei seeks new sources of dollars for the debt-burdened nation.

Economy Minister Luis Caputo unveiled the so-called “golden passport” scheme at an investor event in Paris, saying applications are expected to open before the end of the year.

Applicants have two options: make a nonrefundable $350,000 contribution to the Argentine Treasury or invest $800,000 in a new government bond that must be held for seven years. Contributions would increase depending on family size, with a family of four expected to pay $500,000, officials said.

Securing dollars is critical for Milei as he prepares to seek reelection next year. Argentina’s Treasury faces nearly $25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments coming due in 2027. But having narrowed its financing options by holding off on a return to international bond markets, the government is searching for alternative sources of revenue.

A consortium of investment firms advising the government estimated that the paid-citizenship program could raise up to $2.5 billion for Argentina if it receives the expected number of applicants.

So-called “golden visa” programs have become increasingly common among cash-strapped countries battling to attract deep-pocketed foreigners, with about 60 nations offering residency privileges in exchange for one-off investments. U.S. President Donald Trump launched his own “gold card” program for the U.S. last year.

Citizenship-for-investment programs go further, offering more rights and a passport that opens doors abroad. Only about a dozen countries have active programs, including small Caribbean island states.

Argentina, a G-20 nation of 46 million people home to a vast Patagonian wilderness and culturally vibrant capital, is set to become the first South American country to join their ranks.

“The Argentine passport is highly valued, accepted in more than 140 countries,” Caputo said, referring to destinations Argentines can visit without obtaining a visa in advance — from China and Russia to Europe’s Schengen area and most of Latin America.

For wealthy people from countries that face visa restrictions, whether in Southeast Asia or the Arab world, Argentine citizenship could make it easier to travel and do business internationally, said Kristin Surak, a professor at the London School of Economics and author of “The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires."

"It’s not only the benefits that you get within Argentina,” she said. “You also get benefits globally in terms of where you can go.”

The clientele of such programs has shifted since the COVID-19 pandemic, industry experts say, with more Americans and Europeans — whose passports already offer extensive visa-free travel — seeking a foothold abroad as an escape hatch at a time of mounting geopolitical uncertainty.

“The Southern Cone of South America is the ultimate Plan B destination. It’s not on the way to anywhere strategically important. It’s a region that’s always staying out of global armed conflict,” said Christian Nesheim, editor of Investment Migration Insider, a trade journal. “It’s self-sufficient when it comes to food, to energy.”

A country with a history of military coups, debt defaults and runaway inflation that long sent its own business elite seeking opportunities abroad might seem an unlikely refuge for investors chasing stability. But Milei is trying to recast Argentina as a destination for foreign wealth, slashing public spending, dismantling regulations and courting investment in the country’s vast oil and mineral resources.

Caputo said the idea for the citizenship-for-investment program emerged during Milei’s July 2024 visit to Sun Valley, Idaho, when tech executives expressed interest in obtaining Argentine citizenship.

A self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist,” Milei has cultivated close ties with libertarian-minded tech billionaires such as Elon Musk, a vocal supporter of Milei's drive to shrink government. Last year, he brandished a chainsaw gifted by the Argentine leader as a symbol of his own campaign to slash U.S. government spending.

Another ideological ally is Peter Thiel, a co-founder of software firm Palantir who temporarily moved his family to Buenos Aires in April. Corporate records obtained by The Associated Press show that a company linked to his investment firm, Thiel Capital, owns a $13.5 million mansion in the city’s upscale Barrio Parque neighborhood. Thiel also secured New Zealand citizenship in 2011, receiving a special exemption from the usual residency requirements.

“I think that this 'Peter Thiel in Argentina' story is maybe a bit of a proof of concept (for the citizenship program)," said Philippe Amarante, managing partner and head of government advisory at Henley & Partners, a consultancy that helps clients obtain passports around the globe.

“He stands for this idea that independent, wealthy, successful people do have choices around the world. And if you provide the right environments and right habitats, the right ecosystem, they might choose you.”

Golden passport programs have long drawn criticism over their vulnerability to corruption. The Financial Action Task Force, the global money-laundering watchdog, has warned that criminals exploit citizenship and residency programs to conceal their identities, launder illicit wealth and evade justice.

In a blow to the investment migration industry, the European Union’s top court ruled Malta’s golden passport program unlawful in April 2025, declaring that EU citizenship could not be sold. Other countries have also scrapped cash-for-residency programs, citing concerns ranging from dirty money to housing affordability.

Caputo vowed to prevent such pitfalls, with intelligence and financial oversight agencies helping to vet applicants’ identities, criminal records and sources of funds.

The aim, he said, is to protect “the international standing of Argentine citizenship.”

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Argentina's President Javier Milei delivers a statement at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters, ahead of the ''Argentina Week'', an event aimed at promoting investment and business opportunities, in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)

Argentina's President Javier Milei delivers a statement at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters, ahead of the ''Argentina Week'', an event aimed at promoting investment and business opportunities, in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)

Argentina's Minister of Economy Luis Caputo delivers a statement at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters, ahead of the ''Argentina Week'', an event aimed at promoting investment and business opportunities, in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)

Argentina's President Javier Milei delivers a statement at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters, ahead of the ''Argentina Week'', an event aimed at promoting investment and business opportunities, in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)

Argentina's President Javier Milei delivers a statement at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) headquarters, ahead of the ''Argentina Week'', an event aimed at promoting investment and business opportunities, in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)

NEW YORK (AP) — The woman who accused members of a Cornell University fraternity of gang rape was “failed” by people obligated to protect her, including campus police and the county prosecutor, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.

Hochul said at a news conference that she decided to appoint Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to take over the investigation after learning “troubling details” about how authorities have handled the woman’s claims thus far, including that the district attorney closed the case without having anyone interview the accuser or anyone else involved in the alleged attack.

“In what world does the district attorney not even interview her, or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?” Hochul said. “This woman, this young woman, had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable. And then at every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.”

She also assailed the Cornell University Police Department for not fully conveying the woman’s story to prosecutors.

“After this young woman came forward, she spoke to the police. She sat for hours and told them exactly what happened to her. And according to new reports, she could not have been clearer that she was 100% confident that she had been raped," the Democratic governor said. "Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors.”

Hochul said Thursday that she appointed James to oversee the case because she had lost faith in the local district attorney’s ability to handle it.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who was removed from the case, said Friday that he supports James’ appointment.

“I trust that she will examine the facts and apply the law," Van Houten said in a statement. ”It has become clear that we were not provided the full picture by the University. The focus has been and should continue to be on the victims.”

James didn't say how long her investigation might take, but suggested it would take months.

“We will review the facts, gather evidence, interview witnesses and, if warranted, pursue prosecutions,” James said. “I know that you want answers. I do too. A comprehensive investigation of this nature takes time, but my office is committed to seeing it through.”

The investigation initially was closed without charges in 2024. Van Houten reopened the investigation on Monday after the woman filed a new lawsuit against seven former members of the Chi Phi fraternity, as well as Cornell and others.

Van Houten has defended his decision not to prosecute, maintaining that a sworn statement by the woman prepared by police didn’t include the woman's allegations that she was drugged against her will, incapacitated beyond the ability to consent and forced into sex.

The case has roiled the Ivy League school and raised questions about its response and the larger issue of how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses.

The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, told campus police in November of 2024 that she was sexually assaulted, then discussed it with the university’s internal investigators as part of Cornell’s disciplinary process.

Her lawsuit alleges that she was plied with drugs and alcohol, then subjected to sexual acts by a group of men while she was partially or entirely incapacitated. One of the men sent a social media message to other fraternity members alerting them to what was happening and inviting people to take part, according to the lawsuit.

Lawyers for two of the men she is suing have denied they participated in a sexual assault. One said his client didn't touch the woman. Attempts to reach the other men or their representatives for comment have been unsuccessful.

Hochul also threw her support behind proposals to change an element of New York law that has long made it more difficult to prosecute people who have engaged in sex with someone who voluntarily became intoxicated to the point where their ability to consent was compromised.

Under the law, rape charges generally need to involve force or a clear refusal of sex, unless the victim is physically helpless due to being unconscious, or mentally incapacitated due to being drugged without their consent. New York is one of 19 states with such laws.

“If someone is too intoxicated to consent, it should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol. Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape, period,” the governor said.

New York governors have turned to attorneys general and special prosecutors to oversee important cases in the past.

In 2018, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed a Long Island district attorney to investigate Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned after women accused him of abuse. In 2021, James appointed two outside lawyers to conduct a non-criminal investigation into sexual harassment allegations against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, leading to his resignation.

James’ office also handles other criminal work and has the power to investigate every death in the state involving law enforcement. But, typically, she can’t initiate a criminal investigation without a referral from a local district attorney, the governor or a state agency.

James, a Democrat who took office in 2019, is perhaps best known for suing President Donald Trump over allegations that he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. An appeals court overturned Trump’s fine, which ballooned to more than $500 million, but upheld a judge’s fraud finding.

Trump’s Justice Department, in turn, brought mortgage fraud charges against James last year as part of the president’s retribution campaign against political enemies, but a judge dismissed the case and a grand jury rejected another attempt to indict her. James denies wrongdoing.

This story was updated to correct the spelling of Letitia James' name.

Associated Press reporter Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut contributed to this report.

New York Attorney General Letitia James attends a news conference with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference with New York Attorney General Letitia James, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, left, listens as Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference in New York, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Shown is the the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)