Tuesday, August 25th 2026 - 06:04 UTC
He did not specify which country he was attributing that sovereignty to, but Chilean authorities and media interpreted his words as an Argentine claim over the southern passage
Chile's foreign ministry announced on Monday it will send a note of protest to the Argentine government over remarks by the head of the Argentine Air Force General Staff, Brigadier General Gustavo Javier Valverde, in which he mentioned the Strait of Magellan while referring to sovereignty matters.
Valverde spoke on Sunday in an interview with the YouTube channel La Fábrica del Podcast. “Magellan, the south, the Drake, all of that is sovereignty. We have to maintain a presence there, because that is a bioceanic key, Atlantic-Pacific, and that can alert you to a great many things,” he said. He did not specify which country he was attributing that sovereignty to, but Chilean authorities and media interpreted his words as an Argentine claim over the southern passage.
Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna responded from Vietnam, where he was on an official visit. “Chile's sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan in its entirety is indisputable and is founded on the treaties of 1881 and 1984 signed by both countries,” he said, adding a “stern call to the authorities of other countries to be responsible with their statements and not confuse their citizens.” Interior Minister Claudio Alvarado said it was striking “that statements of this kind are raised from time to time, because there is nothing to discuss here.”
