The conflict over the Beagle Channel was a border dispute between Chili Y Argentina which had started at the beginning of XIX century. But in the 1970s the conflict intensified, especially after the Arbitral Award of 1977. It was a spark next to two piles of gunpowder: the military dictatorships of Videla in Argentina and of Pinochet in Chili. We will tell you the history of this conflict that was very close to leading to a war Which, luckily, never happened.
The vicissitudes of diplomacy between Argentina Y Chili for him beagle channel there were many, since this dispute began, at the end of the 19th century. But to go back to the conflict of the 1970s, we must start our story with the signing of the Arbitration Agreement on the Beagle of July 22, 1971, in London.
The Arbitration Agreement on the Beagle it was an arbitration commitment that requested the determination of the Argentine-Chilean limits in the beagle channel and the award of Picton, New and Lennox Islands and adjacent islets. It also designated the Her Britannic Majesty’s Government as arbitrator of the boundary dispute, but he in turn had to appoint a Arbitral tribunal of five judges of the international Court of Justice.
The failure of the Arbitral Court came six years later through the 1977 Arbitration Award. He himself granted Chili the Lennox, New and Picton Islands, located in the beagle channel. While the government of Pinochet was quick to acknowledge the ruling, the same did not happen on the Argentine side, since the ruling allowed Chili the projection on the Atlantic, so feared by the Argentine nationalist sectors. The Argentine government expressed reservations to the arbitral decision.
The members of the military meeting Argentina decided to postpone the declaration of annulment of the ruling, direct bilateral negotiations were proposed with the regime of Pinochet and thus resolve the differences regarding the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the beagle channel (rejecting the grounds of the award that granted Atlantic projection to Chili). But the Chilean government clung to what was established in the award.
The tension began to be present in the region of the Beagle. The Chilean government installed surveillance posts and signs in front of them for Navy officers. For its part, the Argentine government ordered the mobilization of part of the naval fleet and troops to the south.
Possible negotiations were cut short when the Argentine government declared null the arbitration award, on January 25, 1978, a few days before the expiration of the term granted to the parties for the sentence to enter into force. Nonetheless, Videla and Pinochet met on February 20 in the Chilean town of Montt port, where they signed an Act in which they committed to continue with the bilateral negotiations. Military activities were also stopped and freedom of navigation in the disputed area was secured.
The relaxation was short-lived. Warmongering statements were soon heard on both sides of the mountain range. In June 1978, members of the Argentine Army and Air Force began war practice maneuvers in the south. Likewise, the Argentine embassies abroad denounced a series of air incursions and ground mobilization tasks of members of the Chilean Armed Forces.
Despite these incidents Videla opted to continue the direct negotiations foreseen in the Act of Puerto Montt. The governments of the Argentina Y Chili agreed that the mediator would be the dadwho sent as representative Monsignor Antonio Samoreto mediate between governments. On December 12, 1980, the Pope Juan Pablo II gave both governments a peace proposal.
The papal proposal granted Chili the Lennox, Picton, New, Evout, Barnevelt, Freycinet, Wollaston, Terhalten and Sesambre Islandsuntil the Horn Island. The surrounding line of the coasts of these islands constituted the so-called “Territorial sea” Chilean, within which the Pope granted the Argentina the possibility of installing navigation aids on the islands Evout and Barnevelt and a joint air terminal control system in the new islandin order to regulate flights to and from the Antarctica. Likewise, the Vatican proposal established a “Zone of Joint and Concerted Activities” either “Zone or Sea of Peace”, where both the Argentina What Chili they would jointly explore and exploit the living and non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil.
While the regimen Pinochet quickly accepted the papal proposal, the Argentine military government delayed its response as long as it could, and finally communicated the rejection of the proposal. New incidents occurred on both sides, which served as justification for the abrupt decision to close, as of May, the borders with Chili as a “precautionary measure”.
With the arrival of a “hard” like General Galtieri to the Argentine presidency at the end of 1981, relations with Chili They went through one of their most critical phases. The question of Beagle was perceived by the new president as priority one on the agenda. But the outburst Falklands War Come in Argentina Y Britain in the month of April 1982 he left the issue of Beagle sideways.
After the heavy defeat he received Argentina on the Falklands Warthe first substantive agreement between the governments of the Argentina and Chile throughout the mediation process, it was on September 15, 1982, already during the government of Reynaldo Bignone (arg). Both parties accepted the invitation of the Vatican to extend the Judicial Settlement of Disputes Treaty of 1972.
This agreement was due to the fact that neither of the two military regimes was willing to jeopardize the mediation, since both governments were facing a serious internal crisis. President Bignone and the members of the military meeting argentina decided to transfer the resolution of the problem to the future democratic government – which would take office in December 1983. Thus, on July 26, 1984 and before a definitive version of the agreement, the democratic Argentine President Raul Alfonsin summoned one referendum not binding.
The result of the Argentine referendum of 1984 was overwhelming: 82% of the population voted for the acceptance of the papal proposal. In this framework, the legislators accepted the signing of a peace treaty. The signature of Treaty of Peace and Friendship (November 29, 1984) ended the dispute over Beagle.
Chili obtained recognition of its Chilean sovereignty over all the islands to the south of the Big Island of Tierra del Fuego (except the Argentine ones on the north side of the canal). In counterpart, Chili it relinquished most of the marine rights that such islands grant under international law. In turn, both countries exchanged navigation rights in the area and Argentina gave up his aspirations Strait of Magellan.
Bibliography consulted:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.
www.mrecic.gov.ar
www.argentina-rree.com
Wikipedia
Images:
1. Beagle Channel, Wikipedia
2 and 4. Maps of the conflict zones, and the current border, on Wikipedia
3. meeting between Pinochet and Videla, wikipedia