Both Argentina and Chili They put a cold shoulder to the conflict that began after the inauguration of the “Hito 1 Maritime Traffic Surveillance and Control Post” which is located in Argentine Patagonia, right on the border that divides both countries, and which has solar panels that occupy three meters of Chilean territory. President Gabriel Boric He set off diplomatic alarm bells when he warned: “Either they take them out or we take them out.” From the Government of Javier Milei they clarify that this Monday a delegation is traveling to the place and that “tomorrow they will start removing them.”
On April 29 of this year, the Argentine Navy inaugurated the military base and, “by mistake,” located solar panels used to provide electricity over three meters of Chilean territory, which did not generate sympathy in the neighboring country.
Boric reported last week that he spoke with Milei for the controversy and asked that “this be resolved as soon as possible.” “We learned some time ago that Argentina, when installing a military base in the Patagonia region, placed some solar panels in Chilean territory. We received an apology from the Argentine Foreign Ministry, but I would like to tell you very clearly that with the borders It is not something that can be ambiguous and it is a basic principle of respect between countries. Therefore, they must remove those solar panels as soon as possible or we are going to do it,” said the left-wing president.
In that sense, MDZ He contacted the Chilean Foreign Ministry to find out what the backstage of those talks was like and why there was such a rush to get the panels out. “On Friday we announced that we received a written note stating that it was an error, in fact the panels would be removed in the summer due to weather conditions,” they explained from Chile, referring to the distant deadline that the Government had set for them. of Milei.
That is, the first action that Argentina took was to confirm that they would remove the panels in the summer, “immediately when weather conditions allow it.”
However, since Chili They add that this Monday they received “another communication through our embassy in Argentina stating that the panels will be removed in the coming days.”
“The Argentine Government went from saying that they would remove it in the summer to saying that they will remove it in the next few days,” they added from Chili, although they toned down the situation because “Boric He said that our relationship with Argentina is normal, an important relationship for both countries due to the border we share and the historical ties.” The president also explained that “it is valuable to maintain that relationship and not make escalations of statements or try to get creative regarding to this” since the objective has nothing to do with damaging relationships: “I do not intend for us to escalate tension between relationships regarding this, as long as it is resolved as soon as possible.”
Despite this, the Chilean president left no room for doubt and clarified that “if Argentina does not withdraw them, we are going to withdraw them” because “in short, we are going to take charge of the situation that is occurring in our territory.” “In addition, it does not imply a bilateral problem with Argentina because the government itself recognized at least on Friday in this written note that they sent that it was an error,” they say from the Chilean Foreign Ministry.
For their part, both the Ministry of Defense and the Argentine Foreign Ministry agreed that it was a recognized error and that the panels “are only occupying three meters.” “The embassy in Chili sent a note to the Chileans about three days ago admitting the error and saying that they were going to proceed to erect the panels immediately when weather conditions allow it.”
Likewise, it was confirmed that tomorrow, Tuesday, they will begin to remove them, because this Monday a delegation traveled to deal with the matter that was not done before “due to bad weather” and “Chile already knew this.”
The Argentine Navy base is in a key and strategic location, because it is located at the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan. The Directorate of Borders and Limits of the Chilean Foreign Ministry was able to corroborate that around three meters of Chilean territory were crossed, and that is why this country raised its voice, compared to Argentina, which first promised to remove them only when the summer begins.
The Chilean spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, assured that “there is a legitimate explanation” from Argentina that it was a mistake to cross three meters, “in our view it is worrying and we need to reestablish the limits that we have given ourselves on the border.” “The issues of territorial sovereignty are delicate and therefore, regardless of the excuse, one would hope that this error would be repaired as soon as possible,” she said in dialogue with CNN Chile. In addition, she clarified that “waiting until summer is a long time.”
