Dec. 1 (UPI) -- SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Chile and Peru's foreign ministers met virtually on Monday to coordinate a response to a rise in irregular migration along their shared border, after Peru's interim president, José Jerí, ordered the militarization of the border crossings.
The situation has created a new border dispute between the two countries as more migrants from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Haiti attempt to leave Chile through its northern frontier, becoming stranded in the border area because Peru no longer allows undocumented travelers to enter.
Chile's undersecretary of the interior, Víctor Ramos, told ADN radio that the meeting aims to strengthen border control and explore ways to redirect migrants, while downplaying the possibility of a crisis between the two countries.
"There is no crisis at our borders. There is border control, there is a reduction in irregular migration and we have a specific problem in the area between the Santa Rosa and Chacalluta complexes, where people remain because they cannot cross into Peru," Ramos said.
However, the migration issue has been under scrutiny since Chilean presidential candidate José Antonio Kast urged irregular migrants to "take your belongings and leave the country," warning they would otherwise be "expelled with nothing" once he takes office in March 2026 if he wins the Dec. 14 election.
