After the controversy over the statements made by the head of the Argentine Air Force, Gustavo Javier Valverde, regarding the sovereignty of the Strait of Magellan, the Foreign Ministry of that country reaffirmed “the strategic value of cooperation with Chile”.
And the Argentine general stated in a YouTube interview the following: “The other important thing we have, as you said, Magellan, the south, the Drake, all of that is sovereignty. We have to maintain presence there because that is a bioceanic key between the Atlantic and Pacific. That can alert you to a lot of things.”
These statements led to criticism from the political world in our country, to the point that the Chilean Foreign Ministry, headed by Francisco Pérez Mackenna, announced that a note of protest will be sent to Argentina.
In that context, Argentina stated in a communiqué that “the Argentine position regarding the Strait of Magellan is that established by the 1881 Boundary Treaty and the 1984 Peace and Friendship Treaty. Both instruments fully apply and are considered definitive by the Argentine Republic.”
In this regard, the Argentine Foreign Ministry emphasized “the strategic relevance of the southernmost tip of the continent” and highlighted the defense of its position in areas such as the Falklands, the South Atlantic, and Antarctica, which it mentioned as “spaces of growing centrality due to their strategic natural resources, their role in maritime routes, and global supply chains.”
“In this context, we reaffirm the strategic value of cooperation with Chile. Our countries mutually recognize each other’s Antarctic rights, co-manage specially protected areas, have maintained the Combined Naval Antarctic Patrol for more than twenty-five years, and jointly present the proposal for a Marine Protected Area in the Western Antarctic Peninsula and the southern Scotia Arc,” it added.
Thus, the Argentine nation concluded: “The Argentine Republic reaffirms its commitment to the bilateral relationship with Chile and to addressing all matters of common interest through the institutional channels established between both governments.”
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