Kast will not require Milei to sign the repeal of the decree that considers the Strait of Magellan as a shared space

On the eve of Javier Milei’s trip to Chile, President José Antonio Kast stated this Wednesday from Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of the country, that he will not demand his counterpart, with whom he is very close, to sign the repeal of decree 456 of 2021 in which Argentina, during Alberto Fernández’s administration, when updating its National Defense Policy Directive (DPDN), unilaterally stipulated that there was shared sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan, while the Chilean state administers the territory. According to Kast, he will not do so “because international treaties clearly establish Chile’s sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan, and that is very clear” and that “there is no doubt about who has control and sovereignty.”

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The controversy was opened last week by the head of the Argentine Air Force, Brigadier General Gustavo Javier Valverde, who stated in an interview that “Magallanes, the south, the Drake, all of that is sovereignty.” Later, Milei’s Foreign Ministry distanced itself from the officer’s statements and, in a statement, said that “Argentina’s position regarding the Strait of Magellan is that established by the 1881 Boundary Treaty and the 1984 Peace and Friendship Treaty,” agreements that “fully govern and are considered definitive by the Argentine Republic.”

Despite this, and contrary to Kast’s statements, Defense Minister Fernando Barros had assured this Tuesday that Argentina had “ready for signature” a document to repeal the decree, in the context of Milei’s trip, who will be one of the main speakers at the Madrid Forum in Santiago. But, this Wednesday, from Punta Arenas, where he accompanies the president to oversee Navy exercises, the Secretary of State stated that “Chile respects the treaties, and what a document that exists in another country said cannot alter the treaties.” “Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan is not in question.”

In the morning, Kast’s foreign minister, Francisco Pérez, had stated on radio Agricultura that from Argentina “they have told us that they will comply with signing this decree and we are confident that this will be the case.” “We have insisted every time we have met that this is pending, that they have to fulfill what they promised us, which is basically to modify this and sign the new decree.”

Lawyer Paz Zárate, an expert in international law, has said on her X account about the Strait of Magellan case that “having treaties is not enough: Argentina repeatedly violates them.” And about Kast she said that “he has always been weak” in Foreign Relations. “For any government, sacrificing the defense of national interest on the altar of business is a mistake,” she added.

Kast and Milei will hold a bilateral meeting this Thursday at La Moneda and there, according to the Chilean president, they will talk about different topics, although regarding the Strait of Magellan he said it is a “settled” issue, beyond the signature that ends a decree signed by Mr. Fernández. “We have had a decree signed by the previous Argentine president for five years, and what I can reiterate is that the Strait of Magellan is Chilean, and that Argentina does not have and will never have sovereignty or control over the Strait of Magellan, as has already been stated in international treaties.”

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He added that continuing to deepen the discussion “does not make much sense. It is something that will happen, but one does not necessarily have to demand something from a president when he comes to the nation, saying: ‘I demand this from you’.” “We have a very good relationship with President Milei, we want to maintain good relations between Chile and Argentina, always thinking about the well-being of Chileans. And those who raise their voices today were silent for a long time. Some even wanted to give up sovereignty. We do not give up sovereignty, let that be very clear,” said Kast.

In Chile, Valverde’s words, however, continue to spark controversy both in the opposition and the ruling party. Last Sunday, in an interview with Canal 13, the president of the Senate, Paulina Núñez, from the traditional right-wing party National Renewal, said she hoped Kast would settle the controversy over the Strait of Magellan with Milei during his visit to Santiago. Otherwise, she said the Argentine president’s visit to Chile would be “unofficial, just to debate ideas and ideologies,” referring to the Madrid Forum. “If the coffee [at the meeting at La Moneda] leads to this being clarified once and for all, let it be a coffee that pays off. How could they not talk about this topic? Of course, they have to talk,” she added.

After learning of Kast’s decision, the president of the PPD, from the opposition, Deputy Raúl Soto, said that “it is not possible” for Kast “to meet with President Milei as a meeting between friends, without resolving something that is fundamental for Chile’s interest and sovereignty.”

This Wednesday, six former Navy admirals joined the debate, publishing an op-ed in El Mercurio, titled Relationship with Argentina, a continuous one that does not end. In the text, they stated that “it is difficult to build a relationship of full trust — necessary for both countries — while provisions that Chile considers incompatible with current treaties persist. Under these circumstances, it seems legitimate to ask whether it is appropriate to maintain, under the same terms, mutual trust initiatives such as the Combined Antarctic Naval Patrol.”

In its time, Sebastián Piñera’s government (2010-2014, 2018-2022), from the traditional right, sent a note of protest to Argentina over the decree, but the document remains unchanged.

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