Strait of Magellan: Chile Denies Joint Patrols With Argentina
CHILE · ARGENTINA
Key Facts
- —The place The Strait of Magellan, the sea passage at the bottom of South America, entirely inside Chilean territory.
- —Why it matters It is one of only two natural routes between the Atlantic and the Pacific down there.
- —What Argentina’s defence minister said That the two navies patrol it together.
- —What Chile’s defence minister said That the Chilean navy guards and controls it alone.
- —What they do share A combined Antarctic patrol, and an exercise in the Beagle Channel. Neither is in the strait.
- —The unfinished business An Argentine decree from 2021 still calls the strait a shared space.
Two defence ministers described the same stretch of water in the same week and did not agree on who patrols it. The paperwork behind the disagreement is five years old.
Argentina’s defence minister said on television that Argentine and Chilean warships patrol the Strait of Magellan together. Chile’s defence minister said that is not true.
The Exchange
On 11 September, Argentine Defence Minister Carlos Presti said there is combined patrolling by the two navies in the strait.
Chile’s Fernando Barros answered directly. The waters, he said, are guarded and controlled exclusively by the Chilean navy.
He allowed that the two navies do work together, in two specific arrangements.
Neither of them takes place in the Strait of Magellan.
What the Two Navies Actually Do Together
The first is the combined Antarctic naval patrol, in which both cover search and rescue in Antarctic waters each season.
The second is an exercise run in the Beagle Channel area, at the southern tip of the continent.
Both are decades old and both work. They are usually cited as evidence of how well the two countries cooperate.
That is what makes the disagreement odd. Presti was describing real cooperation and putting it in the wrong place.
Why the Strait Is Not Negotiable for Chile
The Strait of Magellan lies wholly inside Chilean territory. The boundary treaty of 1881 settled it, and the 1984 peace treaty confirmed it.
Chile’s foreign ministry calls its sovereignty there indisputable. Argentina has never formally contested it.
Magellan sailed it in 1520, and for four centuries it was the only reliable way round the bottom of the Americas.
The Panama Canal took the traffic in 1914. The strait kept the symbolism, and in Chile the symbolism is considerable.
How the Argument Started
On 23 August the head of Argentina’s air force described Magallanes, the south and the Drake Passage as matters of sovereignty.
Chile answered by citing the treaties. On 3 September, presidents Javier Milei and José Antonio Kast met in Santiago.
Their joint declaration affirmed Chilean sovereignty over the whole strait, and Kast backed Argentina on the Falklands in return.
The next day Argentina’s foreign minister described his country as bicontinental and bioceanic, and the friction resumed.
The Decree Still Sitting on a Desk
An Argentine decree from 2021 describes the strait as a shared space for exploration, study and control.
It has never been repealed. Chilean officials say an amended text has been waiting for the Argentine president’s signature since March.
That unsigned amendment is the practical core of the dispute. Everything else is commentary on it.
Chile’s lower house has voted to summon its foreign minister to explain the situation on 28 September.
Mendoza, Which Is a Different Story
Some coverage has attached the Argentine province of Mendoza to this row. Nothing has happened there.
Mendoza’s stake in the relationship is commercial. The Cristo Redentor pass carries around 1,300 trucks a day across the Andes.
The GasAndes pipeline runs through the province, and Governor Alfredo Cornejo has an agenda for the bilateral committee in October.
It covers road upgrades and a tunnel project. Argentina has not withdrawn the minister’s remark, and nothing has changed for shipping in the strait.
More: Chile news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Argentina’s defence minister say?
That Argentine and Chilean warships conduct combined patrols in the Strait of Magellan.
How did Chile respond?
Defence Minister Fernando Barros said the strait is guarded and controlled exclusively by the Chilean navy.
Do the two navies cooperate?
Yes, in a combined Antarctic patrol and an exercise in the Beagle Channel area.
Who owns the Strait of Magellan?
Chile, under the boundary treaty of 1881 and the 1984 peace and friendship treaty.
What is the 2021 decree?
An Argentine decree calling the strait a shared space. It has never been repealed.
Is Mendoza involved?
No. Mendoza’s interest is in road and pipeline links, not in sovereignty.
Sources: Ministerio de Defensa de Chile, Emol, La Política Online, Mendoza Today.
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