Neuquén Pushes to Pave Three Argentina-Chile Border Crossings
Argentina · INFRASTRUCTURE
Key Facts
- —Venue The 40th Los Lagos Binational Integration Committee met in Valdivia on August 26 and 27.
- —Passes The three Neuquén border crossings are Mamuil Malal, Pichachén and Hua Hum.
- —Loan Neuquén asked its legislature for a US$250 million CAF loan for northern routes.
- —Gap No cost estimate has been published for paving the Argentine side of Hua Hum.
- —Winter Provincial civil defence counted 1,581 trucks stranded in Neuquén on August 9.
Three Neuquén border crossings went to a binational committee in Valdivia, and only two of them have money attached.
Neuquén sent its economy and energy ministers to Valdivia this week to press for asphalt on three Andean passes. The three Neuquén border crossings are Mamuil Malal, Pichachén and Hua Hum.
A paving plan crosses the Andes
Neuquén sent ministers and mayors to Valdivia this week to argue for asphalt on three mountain passes. The 40th Los Lagos Binational Integration Committee met there on August 26 and 27.
All three passes are gravel or consolidated dirt on the Argentine side today. Chile has already sealed part of its own approach to one of them.
Governor Rolando Figueroa wants five paved international crossings by 2028, up from the pair that carry freight now. The committee is where that plan meets Chile’s regional governments.
Valdivia sits in Chile’s Los Ríos Region, on the Pacific side of the range. More than 500 people attended, according to the regional outlet Noticias Los Ríos.
Who sat at the table in Valdivia
Neuquén’s delegation was led by Economy Minister Guillermo Koenig and Energy Minister Gustavo Medele. Mayors from Junín de los Andes, Zapala, Villa Pehuenia, Las Ovejas and El Cholar joined them.
Chile fielded the governors of Los Ríos, Los Lagos, Ñuble and La Araucanía. Luis Cuvertino of Los Ríos hosted the two days of sessions at a Valdivia hotel.
Argentina’s foreign ministry sent Santiago Villalba, its director of borders and limits. Chile sent its Dirección Nacional de Fronteras y Límites del Estado, the border agency known as DIFROL.
Delegations from Río Negro and Chubut also took part, along with the port city of Bahía Blanca. Business chambers, unions and universities filled out the room.
Mamuil Malal is already under contract
Mamuil Malal sits at 1,227 metres and links Junín de los Andes with Curarrehue in Chile. It lies 60 kilometres from Junín and about 105 from San Martín de los Andes.
Provincial Route 60 is being paved over its final 12.27 kilometres to the boundary line. LM Neuquén reported the contract at 12,427 million pesos (US$8.2 million).
That figure comes from the November 2024 tender and predates two years of Argentine inflation. Conversion uses the A3500 wholesale rate of the Banco Central de la República Argentina, 1,514.16 pesos on August 26.
Financing comes from CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. Works were set at 18 months, and the province expects them finished over the coming summer.
Pichachén carries the biggest money
Pichachén joins El Cholar in northern Neuquén with Antuco in Chile’s Biobío Region. It is the only land link between Biobío province and Argentina.
The Argentine approach on Provincial Route 6 is consolidated dirt, and the pass shuts every winter. It closed on April 9, 2026 and will not reopen until the summer season.
In June the province asked its legislature to approve a US$250 million loan from CAF. The money covers about 165 kilometres of paving on provincial routes 38, 57 and 6.
The loan runs 15 years, with a grace period of up to 66 months on capital. Officials say construction on the northern corridor starts in December.
Hua Hum has a route but no price
Hua Hum is the lowest of the three at 659 metres, west of San Martín de los Andes. Provincial Route 48 runs 43 kilometres of gravel to the boundary.
The crossing continues by ferry across Lago Pirihueico, a trip of about two hours to Puerto Fuy. Chile’s Route 203 then runs 30 kilometres on to Panguipulli.
Chile finished its own 10.6 kilometres of asphalt up to the pass in April 2024. Neuquén is only now drawing up the executive design for its side.
No cost estimate for the Argentine works has been published, and no tender has opened. Koenig said the aim is to place the project in the 2028 provincial budget.
Winter is the argument
The case for paving the Neuquén border crossings rests on what happens each August. Snow and ice regularly shut the passes for days at a time.
Pino Hachado closed for six days this month and reopened on August 11. Provincial civil defence counted 1,581 stranded trucks across the province on August 9.
The Cámara Aduanera de Chile, that country’s customs brokers’ chamber, counted 427,214 trucks in the border area during 2025. It put the cargo at more than 6.5 million tonnes.
Asphalt will not stop snowfall, and no official has claimed that it would. The provincial argument is that a sealed road is quicker to clear and cheaper to keep open.
Freight, Vaca Muerta and the Pacific
Pino Hachado and Cardenal Samoré carry the freight today, and neither is on the paving list. The Consejo Federal de Inversiones, a federal investment council, put Pino Hachado near 90 trucks daily.
Cardenal Samoré handles about 100 trucks a day and stays open year round at 1,314 metres. Pino Hachado sits higher, at 1,884 metres, and closes more often.
Chile and Argentina traded a record US$8.384 billion in 2024, La Tercera reported. Argentine crude oil sales to Chile reached US$1.214 billion in the first eight months of 2025.
Neuquén frames the corridor as a route for Vaca Muerta energy toward Pacific ports. Coronel and Talcahuano in the Biobío Region are the terminals most often named.
What is still unsettled
Chile has committed no money to the Argentine side of these Neuquén border crossings. Each government funds its own approach roads, and only Neuquén has tabled figures.
The Pichachén loan still needs a vote in the Neuquén legislature before spending can begin. Officials have named December as the start date, but no contractor has been made public.
Delegates also pushed to revive the Zapala to Lonquimay railway across the same corridor. That idea remains a proposal, with no financing announced at the committee.
Integration committees produce agreed minutes rather than binding contracts between the two states. The Neuquén border crossings will be judged on tenders, not on the Valdivia agenda.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which three passes did Neuquén take to the committee?
Mamuil Malal, Pichachén and Hua Hum. Pino Hachado came up separately, over a rail project rather than asphalt.
What will the paving cost?
Neuquén has a US$250 million CAF loan request covering the Pichachén corridor and a peso contract at Mamuil Malal. No cost has been published for Hua Hum.
When will the Neuquén border crossings be paved?
Mamuil Malal should finish over the coming summer, and Pichachén works start in December. Hua Hum has only a design phase, aimed at the 2028 budget.
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Sources
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