Santiago (EFE).- Chilean President José Antonio Kast welcomed on Tuesday the Argentine government’s reaffirmation of the validity of the bilateral agreements recognizing Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan territories, after a controversy sparked by a statement from Argentine Air Force Chief of Staff Gustavo Javier Valverde.
“The Chilean foreign minister was very clear, and we also appreciate the Argentine government’s statements recognizing Chile’s sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan,” Kast told the press at the Palacio de la Moneda.
On Monday night, the Chilean Foreign Ministry announced it had sent a note of protest to Argentina after an Argentine military official, in an interview, referred to the need to maintain a presence in the southern region due to its strategic nature.
He described the region as a “key bioceanic link between the Atlantic and the Pacific.”
«Argentina’s position regarding the Strait of Magellan is that established by the 1881 Treaty of Limits and the 1984 Treaty of Peace and Friendship,» the Argentine Foreign Ministry stated in a press release.
