While the Argentine government announced that it will formally demand that the United Kingdom end the Sea Lion oil exploitation in the Malvinas basin and will take its claim to international courts, a debate arose in Chile about the role that country should play in the conflict over the sovereignty of the islands. Argentina denounced illegal flights over its national airspace, connecting Puerto Argentino with Punta Arenas. However, the islanders said it was a single flight, a charter that carried 80 people, including businesspeople and entrepreneurs, to Chile for a commercial event held at the Hotel Cabo de Hornos, the Punta Arenas Business Showroom, organized this time together with the Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC).
The pressure from Chile's opposition and media was not long in coming, so senior officials from President José Antonio Kast's administration came out to forcefully reaffirm their country's right to maintain logistical and direct business ties with the archipelago.
Fernando Barros Tocornal, Chile's Minister of Defense
This had been signaled days earlier by Chile's Minister of Defense, Fernando Barros Tocornal, who, while saying that his country supports the Argentine claim over the Malvinas, at the same time stated that "200 years of sovereignty over the islands by a friendly country" cannot be ignored and that the "will and interest" of the islanders must be respected, acknowledging self-determination, a principle that Argentina rejects.
Minister Barros also lashed out at Decree 256 issued by Argentina in 2010, which requires prior permits for vessels sailing toward the islands off the coasts of the austral sea, accusing that this rule negatively affects the Magallanes Region by limiting "access and business opportunities," and warned that "only now will there be a change in this matter."
In the same vein, Chilean Undersecretary of the Interior Máximo Pavez stated: "Since 1992, Chile has ratified its support for the Argentine claim over the Malvinas, and that this must be pursued in accordance with international law, peacefully. Nevertheless, the Government's position is that our citizens can carry out any economic and commercial activity from our ports as long as they comply with current legislation."
Pavez's statement was one of many that crossed the political agenda of the country across the Andes in the last 48 hours, after it became known that the islanders visited Punta Arenas and participated in a commercial exchange event, where it was announced that the shipping company Eastern Islands will begin to establish a frequent maritime route between Puerto Argentino and Punta Arenas, with the possibility of extending that route to the ports of San Antonio and Valparaíso. The first voyage is scheduled for the first days of November.
Chile's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Pérez Mackenna — Jam Sta Rosa - AFP Pool
The debate became so heated that President José Antonio Kast's government had to step in to coordinate its messaging and respond to parliamentary requests resulting from the internal questioning that erupted in Chile in recent hours. In fact, Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna was questioned over the country's recent adherence to the Shield of the Americas, led by U.S. President Donald Trump. In the midst of the debate, the Malvinas issue emerged, along with the role Chile should play with respect to its relationship with the United Kingdom and the inhabitants of the Islands.
The clash between the statements of Barros Tocornal and Foreign Minister Pérez Mackenna fueled the controversy in the country across the Andes, along with the opposition to Kast's government. "In every sense, Chile's foreign policy is confusing," said socialist deputy Nelson Venegas, who also spoke of an "evident lack of coordination" within the ruling coalition. "They are involving us in a problem that is not ours," he said, referring to the dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
Carlos Bianchi, an independent deputy from the Magallanes Region, for his part, sided with Minister Barros Tocornal's position and against the explanations of the Chilean foreign minister. "I would have liked it to have been the other way around, that it would have been the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself who gave the opinion that the Minister of Defense gave," he said.
In the questioning of the Chilean foreign minister, also present — refreshed in the words of some legislators — was the position of his Argentine counterpart, Pablo Quirno, who stated in Argentine media: "The president's word overrides a minister's word. That's it, it ends there." Quirno was alluding to the commitments assumed on September 3, when Milei and Kast signed a joint declaration at the Palacio de La Moneda, which take precedence over the Defense Minister's statements.
Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and Defense Minister Carlos Presti in Ushuaia
That day, Milei reaffirmed before Kast the treaties stating that the Strait of Magellan is under Chile's exclusive sovereign jurisdiction. The Chilean, in turn, expressed the need for the United Kingdom to resume negotiations over the Malvinas.
Finally, Argentina indicated that "the efforts of the Chilean government will be valued in order to prevent the consolidation of unilateral illegal logistical activities in the disputed area, in matters of exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon and fishing resources, which are contrary to the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly." That same day, Punta Arenas announced the maritime route with the Islands through the Chilean company Eastern Islands.
In the Senate, the Chilean foreign minister reaffirmed support for the Argentine sovereignty claim. But a strong debate broke out over how to carry out that role of sovereign recognition while being a commercially interested party.
Foreign Minister Quirno had said hours earlier: "We have agreements in force with Chile and we expect them to respect those treaties as we do." In addition, he emphasized: "Anything that constitutes logistical support for the exploitation of natural resources will not be done from Chile."
On the contrary, the position of La Moneda was represented by Undersecretary Pavez, who said: "The Government's position is that our citizens can carry out any economic and commercial activity from our ports; this is enshrined in the Political Constitution of the Republic and, therefore, there is no contradiction."
Thus, from within Kast's own government, doubt was cast not only on compliance with the commitment assumed in the 2011 Mercosur Declaration, which obliges member and associated states not to provide support or port facilitation to the islands while the United Kingdom refuses to discuss their sovereignty, but also on the validity of the joint document signed by Kast and Milei at La Moneda on September 3, where Argentina noted that it valued Chile's efforts to "prevent the consolidation of unilateral illegal logistical activities in the disputed area." Something that, according to the Argentine view, was not fulfilled in the last 48 hours at the commercial event in Punta Arenas.
Malvinas Argentinas — Javier Milei — José Antonio Kast