By order of the Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, this Tuesday Navy soldiers dismantled solar panels that generated a strong diplomatic dispute with Chile. Built in the southernmost area of Tierra del Fuego, to control maritime traffic, one of them was left by mistake in neighboring territory.
A strongly nationalist wave aroused protests from officials in Chile, although the Argentine government had already said that it was going to fire them and that it had been a “regrettable mistake.”
On Saturday when they greeted each other at the summit for Ukraine in Switzerland, Gabriel Boric asked Javier Milei to fire them, and the Argentine said yes. But on Monday, the Chilean president left Paris with a warning: “either they take them out or we take them out,” he said.
11 Navy soldiers and 5 workers from the company that donated them (Total Energy) and the one that installed them (Auster) traveled. The troops who arrived in the area, as seen in the photos, Nevada, are those who are stationed in Rio Grande. They had to wait for Chilean authorization.
“I would like to tell you very clearly that borders are not something that can be ambiguous and that it is something basic of respect between countries and that therefore they must remove those solar panels as soon as possible or we are going to do it.” “Boric had said Monday morning, pressured by the deployment of this diplomatic entanglement in the media in his country.
In this case, the newspaper La Tercera spoke of an Argentine “military base” in its territory when it was a solar panel that was placed three meters into the neighboring territory and in a depopulated area where the fences that establish the limits are also questioned. in its accuracy.
“I mentioned it to President Milei and he told me that he was going to send (instruct) it to his Minister of Foreign Affairs. I imagine that we are not going to have problems about it, but it is a wrong signal and one that we do not like. And We demand that it be resolved as soon as possible, if not, we will do it ourselves.”He added, seeking to lower his tone but visibly tense and uncomfortable due to a new problem with Argentina as a result of the unusual diplomatic tangle over the solar panels placed three meters from Chilean territory.
Video
Due to some military panels that Argentina installed by mistake in Chilean territory.
On the other hand, the solar panels of the Argentine Navy had been installed in April and the Chileans had not even realized it until a few weeks ago when they began to complain to this country through the foreign ministries.
The ambassador in Santiago de Chile, Jorge Faurie, had already told his Chilean counterparts that it was the intention to take them out when weather conditions permitted. Last Friday, faced with the mess, he ratified it again by letter. But Boric came out the same with his warning, which was surprising here.
A statement from the Navy this Monday assured that the panels were “installed to the north of the housing modules, and following the limit of the existing perimeter wiring, which was stipulated in the project that began in April 2023.” He added that, “having noticed the involuntary error in the placement of one of the 3-meter panels within Chilean territory, the removal was coordinated with the corresponding contracting company for its subsequent relocation within Argentine territory.”
The panels were placed meters from the cliff known as Cabo Espíritu Santo and at the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan, the so-called Hito 1 Maritime Transit Surveillance and Control Post is located. It is the starting point of the border between Argentina and Chile on the island of Tierra del Fuego.
In the place there are two inhabited posts, one of the Argentine Navy and the other of the Chilean Navy, which are separated by a very rudimentary fence, which marks the border between both countries. It is a completely remote place. At the gates of the sea. The fences that limit the two countries are made of wood and somewhat sinuous.
