SANTIAGO, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Chile on Friday reaffirmed its claim to submarine territory on the south coast in a dispute with Argentina, which said the Santiago measure violates international treaties.
Last week, Chile officially claimed 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles) of continental shelf in the Drake Sea, between the Cape Horn of Chile, its mainland and the Shetland Islands of southern Antarctica. The pointed piece of submarine territory is known as Medialuna and the claim includes the water above.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said Friday that the claim was “legitimate” and that historically the two countries had “superimposed” claims of 25,000 square kilometers (10,000 square miles) in the area.
“This is in clear accordance with international law,” he said. “How should we resolve this overlap? As countries that act prudently and prudently, with dialogue and agreements.”
Argentina last week accused Chile of violating the 1984 peace treaty that ended the Beagle conflict between the military administrations of both countries over the islands of the southern tip of South America.
Argentina said Chile had not responded to Buenos Aires’ claim in a representation to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2009. Chile claimed that at the time Argentina’s claim was “inapplicable.”
Daniel Filmus, the Argentine secretary of Antarctica, the South Atlantic and the Falklands, where the disputed British territory of the Falklands is known, said on Thursday that Argentina would call for UN intervention.
“Our position is clear. There is nothing to discuss,” he said in an interview on local television.
The dispute comes as elections approach the two countries and their administrations face challenges such as Argentina’s COVID-19 pandemic and recession and Chile’s social protests.
Britain is watching the territorial dispute closely because Argentina has also stepped up its efforts to reclaim the Falklands.
Reports by Aislinn Laing; Edited by Cynthia Osterman
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