Beagle conflict
Encyclopedia
The Beagle Conflict was a border dispute between Chile
and Argentina
over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva
islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war in 1978.
The islands are strategically located off the south edge of Tierra del Fuego
and at the east end of the Beagle Channel
. The Beagle channel, the Straits of Magellan and the Drake Passage
are the only three waterways between the Pacific Ocean
and the Atlantic Ocean
in the southern hemisphere
.
After refusing to abide by a binding international award giving the islands to Chile, the Argentine junta pushed the controversy to the brink of war in 1978 in order to produce a maritime boundary
consistent with Argentine claims.
The Beagle conflict is seen as the main reason for Chilean support to the United Kingdom during the Falklands War
of 1982.
The conflict began in 1904 with the first official Argentine claims over the islands that have always been under Chilean control. The conflict passed through several status: unknown territories, since 1881 Chilean islands, since 1904 disputed islands, direct negotiations, submitted to a binding international tribunal, direct negotiations again, brinkmanship.
The conflict was resolved through papal mediation and since 1984 Argentina recognizes the islands as Chilean territory. The 1984 treaty resolves also several collateral issues of great importance, including navigation rights, sovereignty over other islands in the Fuegian Archipelago, delimitation of the Straits of Magellan, and maritime boundaries south to Cape Horn and beyond.
by Europeans, the region of Patagonia
and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago remained free from colonial settlements because of its inhospitable climate, harsh conditions and sparse local vegetation. After the disaster of Puerto Hambre
(1584) during the regency of Philip II of Spain
no other attempts of settlements were made in the zone.
In 1843 the Chilean government sent an expedition with the appointed task of establishing a permanent settlement on the shores of the Strait of Magellan. The founding act of the settlement of Fuerte Bulnes
took place on 21 September 1843. A few years later (1848) the settlement moved to Punta Arenas.
Argentine Ushuaia
was founded by English born Thomas Bridges in 1869.
In 1881, Chile and Argentina attempted to definitively resolve their territorial disputes through a comprehensive agreement known as the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina. This agreement provided that the border between the two countries would follow:
Until 1887 there was no doubt in Argentina and Chile that the islands Picton, Nueva and Lennox belonged to Chile:
The chief of the Argentine exploring commission of the southern territories, Francisco P. Moreno
in a memorandum to the British Ambassador in Buenos Aires
, 1918, saw the Argentine claim as baseless:
In 1904 the Argentine government solicited Chile to define jointly which was the deepest arm of the Beagle channel in the zone in order to find the demarcation of the border. On the basis of the international cartography of the zone, the descriptions of the discoverer of the channel, and the discourse of the signatories of the 1881 Treaty, Chile initially did not attach importance to the note.
The unresolved conflict continued to simmer. During the Snipe incident
, Argentine forces destroyed a Chilean lighthouse on the Snipe islet at the entry of the Beagle Channel installed on 1 May 1958, put up their own and landed marines on the islet, provoking a dangerous build up. Later both countries agreed to pull back military forces and dismantle the lighthouses.
s in the zone, fishing right
s led both countries to become hardened in their positions and the conflict was extended to other issues regarding the zone.
There was a controversy about the east end of the Straits of Magellan. Both countries agreed about the boundary line, but not about the end of the Straits. The Chilean view was that the Straits ended at the boundary line and eastward continued the Atlantic Ocean and therefore Chile had a "beach" at (and its projection over) the Atlantic Ocean and it enjoyed sole control of the Straits themselves. The Argentine view was that the Straits continued eastward of the border and that the east end of the Straits of Magallan belonged to Argentina. Under this view, it was coproprietor with the right to co-regulate the navigation through the Straits and Chile had no border with the Atlantic Ocean.
The west end of the Straits of Magellan was also a cause of conflict. Argentina considered the channel
s and bay
s part of the straits and demanded free navigation through all waters as stipulated in the Boundary Treaty of 1881 for the Straits.
On 14 June 1977, the Chilean Government issued the decree n°416 over the baselines (See Chilean Baselines Map). The decree had two main implications for the controversy. First, it extended the range from which Chile might attempt to project its 12-mile
s territorial sea and 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone
along a continued line from Picton, Nueva, and Lennox Islands as far south as Cape Horn, thus greatly increasing its potential maritime jurisdiction to the east and southeast. Second, it effectively converted all waters enclosed by the baselines into Chilean internal waters where navigational rights for Argentina would exist only through explicit agreements with Chile. The Argentine port of Ushuaia
, located on the north shore of the east Beagle Channel, had no direct free way to the Pacific Ocean through Argentine waters. Argentina has so far considered its unfettered use of the waters surrounding the Fuegian Archipelago to be a matter of critical importance for its commercial and military navigation.
The two countries have always linked their Antarctic
claims to their continental possessions because the nearness and the projection of the countries over the Antarctic can substantiate a claim over territories.
Queen Elizabeth II
. The court that was to decide the controversy was composed of five judges selected by Chile and Argentina from the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The court of arbitration's final decision would be submitted to the British Crown, which was then to recommend acceptance or rejection of the award of the court but not to modify it. On May 2, 1977 the court ruled that the islands and all adjacent formations belonged to Chile. See the Report and decision of the Court of Arbitration.
On 25 January 1978 Argentina rejected the ruling, and attempted via military force to challenge the Chilean commitment to defend the territory, and to coerce Chile into negotiating a division of the islands that would produce a maritime boundary consistent with Argentine claims.
, on 9 January 1979, where both countries accepted papal mediation after Argentina aborted Operation Soberanía
.
In the interim, both countries deployed military forces, moving to the brink of open warfare in tandem with a frenzy of diplomatic activity. This was the most dangerous phase of the Beagle Conflict; open warfare seemed a real possibility
1980 Argentina rejected the Pope's proposal (already accepted by Chile).
The detention of alleged spies on both sides of the border, the following border closing by Argentina on 28 April 1981, and the Argentine repudiation of the General Treaty on the Judicial Settlement of Disputes in January 1982 maintained the danger of war. Six weeks before the Falklands War, Argentina provoked the ARA Gurruchaga incident with Chile at Deceit Island
.
Affair in 1973.
In 1982, Argentina went to war against the United Kingdom
in the Falklands War. The Argentine plan included the military occupation of the disputed islands at the Beagle channel after the invasion of the Falklands, as stated by Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo
, chief of the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands war, in an interview with the Argentine magazine Perfil
:
In 1982, Argentina still officially considered Chile an enemy. Chile, perhaps suspecting an Argentine invasion, argued that it was not bound to support Argentina against Britain under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance
because that treaty was defensive in nature, while Argentina was the aggressor in this case and both Chile and Argentina deployed their respective militaries to the border.
The common challenge made the chance of military co-operation between Britain and Chile a distinct possibility and during the war Chile provided the UK with ‘limited, but significant information’. One of the reasons given for the absence of the Argentine Navy and higher numbers of professional soldiers during the Falklands War was that these forces had to be kept in reserve in case they were needed against Chile.
took office in Argentina in December 1983. Still isolated diplomatically due to the War, the Alfonsín administration made great efforts to stabilize the border situation. Without the support of the opposition, Alfonsín called for non-binding referendum
on 25 November 1984, which produced a result of 82.6% in favour. The voting was close only in the territory of Tierra del Fuego
, which included the Argentine sector of the disputed Beagle Channel and many military personnel. The vote there was narrowly in favor of the treaty. On 29 November 1984 Argentina and Chile signed a protocol of agreement to a treaty at Vatican City
giving the islands to Chile but maritime rights to Argentina.
for Antonio Samoré, one of the mediators from the Vatican state in the conflict.
Leon Gieco
created the song "Sólo le pido a Dios" ("I only Ask of God") in 1978 as a response to the warmongering in Argentina. Three years later, during the Falklands War
, the Argentine junta used the song against the Falklands War after the invasion.
In 2005 the Chilean movie Mi Mejor Enemigo (My Best Enemy) was released. The film recreates the story of a simple recruit in late 1978 when both countries were on the brink of war.
Three TV productions about the conflict (in Spanish) focus on Operation Soberanía:
* Costs in Millions of USA Dollar
s 1979.
During the 1990s, under the presidency of Carlos Menem
in Argentina and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
in Chile, they resolved almost all of their disputes and both countries began to work together both economically and militarily.
A number of prominent public officials in Chile still point to past Argentine treaty repudiations when referring to relations between the two neighbors.
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva
Picton, Lennox and Nueva
Picton, Lennox and Nueva is a group of three islands on the extreme south of South America, in the Chilean commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region...
islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war in 1978.
The islands are strategically located off the south edge of Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
and at the east end of the Beagle Channel
Beagle Channel
thumb|right|300px|Aereal view of Beagle Channel. The Chilean [[Navarino Island]] is seen in the top-right while the Argentine part of [[Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego]] is seen at the bottom-left....
. The Beagle channel, the Straits of Magellan and the Drake Passage
Drake Passage
The Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces—Sea of Hoces—is the body of water between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica...
are the only three waterways between the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
in the southern hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
.
After refusing to abide by a binding international award giving the islands to Chile, the Argentine junta pushed the controversy to the brink of war in 1978 in order to produce a maritime boundary
Maritime boundary
Maritime boundary is a conceptual means of division of the water surface of the planet into maritime areas that are defined through surrounding physical geography or by human geography. As such it usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over the mineral and biological resources,...
consistent with Argentine claims.
The Beagle conflict is seen as the main reason for Chilean support to the United Kingdom during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
of 1982.
The conflict began in 1904 with the first official Argentine claims over the islands that have always been under Chilean control. The conflict passed through several status: unknown territories, since 1881 Chilean islands, since 1904 disputed islands, direct negotiations, submitted to a binding international tribunal, direct negotiations again, brinkmanship.
The conflict was resolved through papal mediation and since 1984 Argentina recognizes the islands as Chilean territory. The 1984 treaty resolves also several collateral issues of great importance, including navigation rights, sovereignty over other islands in the Fuegian Archipelago, delimitation of the Straits of Magellan, and maritime boundaries south to Cape Horn and beyond.
Background
For a long time after its first explorationExploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
by Europeans, the region of Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago remained free from colonial settlements because of its inhospitable climate, harsh conditions and sparse local vegetation. After the disaster of Puerto Hambre
Puerto Hambre
Puerto Hambre, originally Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe, also known as Puerto del Hambre and at one time as Port Famine, is a historic settlement site at Buena Bay on the west side of the Strait of Magellan approximately south of Punta Arenas in the Región de Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena,...
(1584) during the regency of Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
no other attempts of settlements were made in the zone.
In 1843 the Chilean government sent an expedition with the appointed task of establishing a permanent settlement on the shores of the Strait of Magellan. The founding act of the settlement of Fuerte Bulnes
Fuerte Bulnes
Fuerte Bulnes is a Chilean fort located by the Strait of Magellan, 62 km south of Punta Arenas. It was founded in 1843 over a rocky hill at Punta Santa Ana, under the command of President Manuel Bulnes Prieto....
took place on 21 September 1843. A few years later (1848) the settlement moved to Punta Arenas.
Argentine Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Ushuaia may refer to the following:*Ushuaia, a city in Argentina.**Ushuaia Department, an administrative division**Ushuaia River**Ushuaia International Airport**Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia, National School of Ushuaia....
was founded by English born Thomas Bridges in 1869.
In 1881, Chile and Argentina attempted to definitively resolve their territorial disputes through a comprehensive agreement known as the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina. This agreement provided that the border between the two countries would follow:
- (Article I, from north to parallel 52°S) the highest peaks and Drainage divide,
- (Article II, from 52°S to the Straits of Magellan) mainly the parallelCircle of latitudeA circle of latitude, on the Earth, is an imaginary east-west circle connecting all locations that share a given latitude...
52°S and - (Article III, south of Straits of Magellan) mainly the meridianMeridian (geography)A meridian is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations along it with a given longitude. The position of a point along the meridian is given by its latitude. Each meridian is perpendicular to all circles of latitude...
68°34 W and the Beagle channel.
The chief of the Argentine exploring commission of the southern territories, Francisco P. Moreno
Francisco Moreno
Francisco Pascacio Moreno was a prominent explorer and academic in Argentina, where he is usually referred to as Perito Moreno...
in a memorandum to the British Ambassador in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, 1918, saw the Argentine claim as baseless:
In 1904 the Argentine government solicited Chile to define jointly which was the deepest arm of the Beagle channel in the zone in order to find the demarcation of the border. On the basis of the international cartography of the zone, the descriptions of the discoverer of the channel, and the discourse of the signatories of the 1881 Treaty, Chile initially did not attach importance to the note.
The unresolved conflict continued to simmer. During the Snipe incident
Snipe incident
The Snipe incident was a military incident that took place between Chile and Argentina during 1958 as a result of an disputed border line in the Beagle Channel....
, Argentine forces destroyed a Chilean lighthouse on the Snipe islet at the entry of the Beagle Channel installed on 1 May 1958, put up their own and landed marines on the islet, provoking a dangerous build up. Later both countries agreed to pull back military forces and dismantle the lighthouses.
Interests of the parties
Over the years the growing importance of the Antarctic, the navigation routes between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, the expectancy of Oil fieldOil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
s in the zone, fishing right
Fishing industry
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products....
s led both countries to become hardened in their positions and the conflict was extended to other issues regarding the zone.
Channel (geography)
In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...
s and bay
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
s part of the straits and demanded free navigation through all waters as stipulated in the Boundary Treaty of 1881 for the Straits.
Nautical mile
The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
s territorial sea and 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
along a continued line from Picton, Nueva, and Lennox Islands as far south as Cape Horn, thus greatly increasing its potential maritime jurisdiction to the east and southeast. Second, it effectively converted all waters enclosed by the baselines into Chilean internal waters where navigational rights for Argentina would exist only through explicit agreements with Chile. The Argentine port of Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Ushuaia may refer to the following:*Ushuaia, a city in Argentina.**Ushuaia Department, an administrative division**Ushuaia River**Ushuaia International Airport**Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia, National School of Ushuaia....
, located on the north shore of the east Beagle Channel, had no direct free way to the Pacific Ocean through Argentine waters. Argentina has so far considered its unfettered use of the waters surrounding the Fuegian Archipelago to be a matter of critical importance for its commercial and military navigation.
The two countries have always linked their Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
claims to their continental possessions because the nearness and the projection of the countries over the Antarctic can substantiate a claim over territories.
History of the conflict
Attempts to clear up the dispute were unsuccessful from 1904 until 1971.Beagle Channel Arbitration 1971-1977
In 1971 Chile and Argentina signed an agreement formally submitting the Beagle Channel issue to binding arbitration under auspices of Britain'sGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. The court that was to decide the controversy was composed of five judges selected by Chile and Argentina from the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The court of arbitration's final decision would be submitted to the British Crown, which was then to recommend acceptance or rejection of the award of the court but not to modify it. On May 2, 1977 the court ruled that the islands and all adjacent formations belonged to Chile. See the Report and decision of the Court of Arbitration.
On 25 January 1978 Argentina rejected the ruling, and attempted via military force to challenge the Chilean commitment to defend the territory, and to coerce Chile into negotiating a division of the islands that would produce a maritime boundary consistent with Argentine claims.
Direct negotiations 1977-1978
Direct negotiations between Chile and Argentina began after the announcement of the binding arbitration ruling, on 2 May 1977, and ended with the Act of Montevideo, UruguayUruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, on 9 January 1979, where both countries accepted papal mediation after Argentina aborted Operation Soberanía
Operation Soberanía
Operación Soberanía was the codename of a planned Argentine military invasion of Chile to be carried out on 22 December 1978 due to the Beagle conflict dispute. The invasion was halted at the last minute and did not take place....
.
In the interim, both countries deployed military forces, moving to the brink of open warfare in tandem with a frenzy of diplomatic activity. This was the most dangerous phase of the Beagle Conflict; open warfare seemed a real possibility
Operation Soberania 1978
On 22 December 1978 Argentina initiated Operation Soberanía, an attempt to occupy the islands around Cape Horn, intending to judge from Chile's response whether to advance further. However, the operation was aborted within a few hours. Instead of renewing the operation at the next window of opportunity, the junta in Buenos Aires decided to allow the Pope to mediate the dispute through the offices of Cardinal Antonio Samoré, his special envoy.Papal mediation 1979-1984
On January 9, 1979, the Act of Montevideo was signed pledging both sides to a peaceful solution and a return to the military situation of early 1977.1980 Argentina rejected the Pope's proposal (already accepted by Chile).
The detention of alleged spies on both sides of the border, the following border closing by Argentina on 28 April 1981, and the Argentine repudiation of the General Treaty on the Judicial Settlement of Disputes in January 1982 maintained the danger of war. Six weeks before the Falklands War, Argentina provoked the ARA Gurruchaga incident with Chile at Deceit Island
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
.
The Falklands War 1982
The Anglo-Chilean relations had been deteriorating since the Sheila CassidySheila Cassidy
Dr. Sheila Cassidy is an English doctor, known for her work in the hospice movement, as a writer and as someone who, by publicising her own history as a torture survivor, drew attention to human rights abuse in Chile in the 1970s.-Early life:Cassidy grew up in Sydney, and attended the Our Lady of...
Affair in 1973.
In 1982, Argentina went to war against the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the Falklands War. The Argentine plan included the military occupation of the disputed islands at the Beagle channel after the invasion of the Falklands, as stated by Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo
Basilio Lami Dozo
Brigadier General Basilio Arturo Ignacio Lami Dozo was a member of the Argentine Air Force.He participated in the military dictatorship known as the National Reorganisation Process and, along with Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri and Jorge Isaac Anaya, was a member of the Third Military Junta that...
, chief of the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands war, in an interview with the Argentine magazine Perfil
Perfil
Perfil is an Argentine tabloid newspaper based in Buenos Aires.- History :The newspaper was first launched by Jorge Fontevecchia on 9 May 1998 as a daily newspaper, but poor sales forced its closure on 31 July of the same year....
:
- L.F. Galtieri: "[Chile] have to know that what we are doing now, because they will be the next in turn..
In 1982, Argentina still officially considered Chile an enemy. Chile, perhaps suspecting an Argentine invasion, argued that it was not bound to support Argentina against Britain under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance
Tiar
The Tiar are scheduled caste, found in North India. They are also known as the Parihar.-History and origin:The word tiar is a corruption of the Sanskrit word thivara, which means a hunter. They were traditionally hunters, but with the greater deforestation of their environment, they are now mainly...
because that treaty was defensive in nature, while Argentina was the aggressor in this case and both Chile and Argentina deployed their respective militaries to the border.
The common challenge made the chance of military co-operation between Britain and Chile a distinct possibility and during the war Chile provided the UK with ‘limited, but significant information’. One of the reasons given for the absence of the Argentine Navy and higher numbers of professional soldiers during the Falklands War was that these forces had to be kept in reserve in case they were needed against Chile.
Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina
Tensions between Argentina and Chile did not subside until the democratic government of Raúl AlfonsínRaúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
took office in Argentina in December 1983. Still isolated diplomatically due to the War, the Alfonsín administration made great efforts to stabilize the border situation. Without the support of the opposition, Alfonsín called for non-binding referendum
Argentine Beagle conflict dispute resolution referendum, 1984
A non-binding referendum on resolving the Beagle conflict was held in Argentina on 25 November 1984. Voters were asked whether they approved of the government's negotiated settlement with Chile, which would result in Argentina recognising the Picton, Lennox and Nueva as being Chilean territory. It...
on 25 November 1984, which produced a result of 82.6% in favour. The voting was close only in the territory of Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
, which included the Argentine sector of the disputed Beagle Channel and many military personnel. The vote there was narrowly in favor of the treaty. On 29 November 1984 Argentina and Chile signed a protocol of agreement to a treaty at Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
giving the islands to Chile but maritime rights to Argentina.
Cultural impact
The mountain pass of Puyehue was renamed Cardenal Antonio Samoré PassCardenal Antonio Samoré Pass
Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass it is one of the main mountain pass through the southern Andes along the border between Argentina and Chile.Together with Paso Libertadores, it is one of the easiest of the Argentina-Chile passes, and one of the few with asphalted roads in the region...
for Antonio Samoré, one of the mediators from the Vatican state in the conflict.
Leon Gieco
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations...
created the song "Sólo le pido a Dios" ("I only Ask of God") in 1978 as a response to the warmongering in Argentina. Three years later, during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, the Argentine junta used the song against the Falklands War after the invasion.
In 2005 the Chilean movie Mi Mejor Enemigo (My Best Enemy) was released. The film recreates the story of a simple recruit in late 1978 when both countries were on the brink of war.
Three TV productions about the conflict (in Spanish) focus on Operation Soberanía:
- Chilean Telecast of Televisión Nacional de Chile "Informe Especial", Theme: «El año que vivimos en peligro» ("The year when we lived in danger")
- Chilean Telecast of Corporación de Televisión de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileCanal 13 (Chile)Canal 13 , is the second oldest television station in Chile. It is owned by Luksic Group associated with the Papal Catholic University of Chile. Its inaugural transmission took place on August 21, 1959...
"annonimos", Theme: «Beagle: La guerra que no fue» ("Beagle: The war that wasn't") - Argentine Telecast of History Channel: «Operativo Soberanía»
Economic impact
The arms race at both sides of the border after the Argentine refusal of the decision of the Court of Arbitration caused huge costs for the economy of the countries, until after the Falklands War:| 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chile | ||||||
| defense spending* | 487 | 566 | 713 | 951 | 1.128 | 949 |
| percentage of the GNP GNP Gross National Product is the market value of all products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the residents of a country... |
3.5 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.2 | |
| Argentina | ||||||
| defense spending* | 2.702 | 2.225 | 2.339 | 2.641 | 2.126 | 2.241 |
| percentage of the GNP GNP Gross National Product is the market value of all products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the residents of a country... |
2.2 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.0 | |
* Costs in Millions of USA Dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
s 1979.
Aftermath
The Beagle conflict was argued in legal and juridical terms, although it was eventually resolved as a political compromise.During the 1990s, under the presidency of Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
in Argentina and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Eduardo Alfredo Juan Bernardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle is a Chilean politician and civil engineer who was President of Chile from 1994 to 2000. He is currently Senator for Los Ríos and was President of the Senate from 2006 to 2008. He attempted a comeback as the candidate of the ruling Concertación...
in Chile, they resolved almost all of their disputes and both countries began to work together both economically and militarily.
A number of prominent public officials in Chile still point to past Argentine treaty repudiations when referring to relations between the two neighbors.
Literature
- Beagle Channel Arbitration between the Republic of Argentina and the Republic of Chile, Report and Decision of the Court of Arbitration
- Mark Laudy: The Vatican Mediation of the Beagle Channel Dispute: Crisis Intervention and Forum Building in Words Over War of Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict.
- Alejandro Luis Corbacho: Predicting the Probability of War During Brinkmanship Crises: The Beagle and the Malvinas Conflicts, Universidad del CEMA, Argentina, Documento de Trabajo No. 244, September 2003
- Rubén Madrid Murúa: Estrategia Nacional y Militar que planificó Argentina, en el marco de una estrategia total, para enfrentar el conflicto con Chile el año 1978", Memorial del Ejército de Chile, Edición Nº 471, Santiago, Chile, 2003, Spanish Language
- Karin Oellers-Frahm: Der Schiedsspruch in der Beagle-Kanal-Streitigkeit, Berichte und Urkunden: Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, German Language
- Sergio Gutiérrez Olivos, Comentarios sobre el tratado de paz y amistad con Argentina, Academia Chilena de Ciencias Sociales, 1985, in Spanish language
- Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile: Relaciones Chileno-Argentinas, La controversia del Beagle. Genf 1979, English and Spanish Language
- Andrea Wagner: Der argentinisch-chilenische Konflikt um den Beagle-Kanal. Ein Beitrag zu den Methoden friedlicher Streiterledigung. Verlag Peter Lang, Frankfurt a.M. 1992, ISBN 3-631-43590-8, German Language
- Karl Hernekamp: Der argentinisch-chilenisch Grenzstreit am Beagle-Kanal. Institut für Iberoamerika-Kunde, Hamburg 1980, German Language
- Andrés Cisneros y Carlos EscudéCarlos EscudéCarlos Andrés Escudé Carvajal is an Argentine political scientist and author, who during the 1990s served as special advisor to one of Argentina's most distinguished Foreign Ministers - Guido di Tella...
, "Historia general de las Relaciones Exteriores de la República Argentina", Las relaciones con Chile, Cema, Argentina, Buenos Aires. Spanish Language - Annegret I. Haffa: Beagle-Konflikt und Falkland (Malwinen)-Krieg. Zur Außenpolitik der Argentinischen Militarregierung 1976-1983. Weltforum Verlag, München/Köln/London 1987, ISBN 3-8039-0348-3, German Language
- Carlos Escudé und Andrés Cisneros: Historia general de las relaciones exteriores de la República Argentina (here), in spanischer Sprache.
- Fabio Vio Valdivieso: La mediación de su S.S. el Papa Juan Pablo II, Editorial Aconcagua, Santiago de Chile, 1984, Spanish Language
- Alberto Marín Madrid: El arbitraje del Beagle y la actitud argentina. 1984, Editorial Moisés Garrido Urrea, id = A-1374-84 XIII, Spanisch Language
- Luis Alberto Romero, Argentina in the twentieth Century. Pennsylvania State University Press, translated by James P. Brennan, 1994, ISBN 0-271-02191-8
- Thomas Princen, Intermediaries in International Conflict", Princeton University Press, 1991, ISBN 0-691-07897-1
External links
- Chilean Telecast of Televisión Nacional de Chile "Informe Especial", Theme El año que vivimos en peligro, (sometimes in YouTube), Spanish Language
- Chilean Telecast of Corporación de Televisión de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileCanal 13 (Chile)Canal 13 , is the second oldest television station in Chile. It is owned by Luksic Group associated with the Papal Catholic University of Chile. Its inaugural transmission took place on August 21, 1959...
"annonimos", Theme: Beagle: La guerra que no fue, (in YouTube) in Spanish Language - Argentine Telecast of Argentine History Channel: Operativo Soberanía (in YouTube), Spanish Language
- Special edition of El Mercurio, Santiago de Chile, 2 September 2005, Spanish Language. There are Interviews with contemporary witness like Ernesto Videla, Jaime Del Valle, Helmut Brunner, Marcelo Delpech und Luciano Benjamín Menéndez. Spanish Language.
- Interview with the (later, in the nineties) Chief Commander of the Argentine Army Martín BalzaMartín BalzaLieutenant General Martín Antonio Balza is an Argentine military former Chief of Staff of the Argentine Army. He is currently Argentine ambassador to the Republic of Colombia....
in El Mercurio de Santiago de Chile, 2 September 2005, Spanish Language - Interview with Sergio Onofre JarpaSergio Onofre JarpaSergio Onofre Jarpa Reyes is a Chilean politician who served as a member of the cabinet during the government of Augusto Pinochet.-Biography:Coming from a rural background, he studied agriculture at the University of Chile...
, Chile's AmbassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
in Argentina 1978 to 1982 in La Tercera, Santiago, Chile, 17 March 2002, Spanish Language - Interview with Argentine General Luciano Benjamín Menéndez, Commandant of the III Army Corps in El Mercurio de Santiago de Chile, (from the Argentine Magazine "Somos"), Spanish Language
- Interview with Pio Laghi, Nuntius in Argentina, 1978, in Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998. Spanish Language
- Interview with the Ambassador of the United States of America in Argentina, Raúl Héctor CastroRaúl Héctor CastroRaul Hector Castro is a Mexican-born American politician. He has served in both elected and non-elected public offices, including United States Ambassador and the 14th Governor of Arizona. He was the first Mexican American to be elected governor of Arizona...
, in Clarín Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language - Interview with the former Chief of the "Secretaría General del Ejército" (a Think-Tank of the Argentine Army), General Reynaldo BignoneReynaldo BignoneReynaldo Benito Antonio Bignone is an Argentine general who served as dictatorial President of Argentina from July 1, 1982 to December 10, 1983. In 2010, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the kidnappings, torture, and murders of the Dirty War.-Early career:Reynaldo Benito...
, President of Argentina after the Falkland War, in Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language - Article Cartas desde el Abismo, Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language
- Article El belicismo de los dictadores Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language
- Article Beagle: historia secreta de la guerra que no fue La Nación, Buenos Aires, 12. August 1996, Spanish Language
- Article Historia de la santa mediación en Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language
- Chile-Argentina Relations, Spanish Language
- Toma de decisiones políticas y la influencia de los discursos oficialistas durante el Connflicto del Beagle: Chile - Argentina 1977-1979, Spanish Language
- Text of the Tratado de Paz y Amistad de 1984, Dirección de Fronteras y Límites de Chile, Spanish Language
- Text of the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1984, Copy to the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, English Language