Chile will reopen 10 land borders with Argentina and Peru

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chile announced on Monday the reopening of 10 land borders with Argentina and Peru, closed for almost two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, but under strict requirements for visitors.

The land crossings will be rehabilitated in two stages, the first one next Wednesday, with Futaleufú, Huemules, and Paso Integración Austral, in the south of the country and bordering Argentina, the first two with the province of Chubut and the third with Santa Cruz.

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On January 4, the Chacalluta points will open on the northern border with Peru, and five other passes to Argentina: Paso Agua Negra (San Juan), Los Libertadores (Mendoza), Pino Hachado and Cardenal Samoré (Neuquén) and Dorotea (Santa Cruz).

“Just as today we have the passage enabled at the airports of Iquique, Antofagasta, Metropolitan Region, Punta Arenas, and cruise ships are arriving, now it is the turn to enable the land border crossings,” said the Undersecretary of Tourism, José Luis Uriarte, during the report on the pandemic situation.

Foreigners entering Chile through these borders will have to have their complete vaccination process approved, submit an affidavit, have health insurance, and, when they arrive, they will be subjected to a PCR test, detailed the official, quoted by the AFP news agency.

Chile was going to reopen some land borders at the end of November, but the arrival of the new Omicron variant forced the measure to be postponed.

The Executive decided the closure of air, land, and sea borders on March 17, 2020, almost two weeks after the first case of covid-19 was confirmed in Chile.

Since November last year, the gradual entry of tourists was announced, first by air.

According to the latest health report, Chile has had 1.7 million infections and 38,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

The country has more than 90% of the population over 18 years of age vaccinated with the two doses. It expects to soon apply the third booster due to the irruption of Omicron.