After the detection by the Naval Prefecture of a Chilean-flagged tugboat , which came from the Malvinas Islands along with a Taiwanese fishing vessel without authorization from Argentina , officials and parliamentarians of the trans-Andean country reacted to the Argentine actions, although with different interpretations and positions. . A special session of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies was even announced.

Although the foreign minister of the neighboring nation, Alberto Van Klaveren , ruled out "harassment" from Argentina , Chilean parliamentarians linked the measure , of violating the tugboat, with the border claims and territories in Antarctica , added to the latest military acquisitions of Milei's management.

Along these lines, legislator Diego Schalper (RN) related the actions of the Argentine Naval Prefecture, the recent purchase of military aircraft from Denmark and the policy declared by Milei regarding Antarctica. He maintained that they are "signs that anyone should consider worrying."

The president of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Vlado Mirosevic (PL) , announced a special session to address the issue and deputy Raúl Soto (PPD) maintained that "this has become a permanent policy of harassment by the Argentine government towards Chile."

Representative Carmen Hertz (PC) adhered to this position when interpreting that "this is not going to be the last opportunity in which the Argentine government is trying to create an artificial conflict with us."

The debate was presented early in the Chilean press, after the event of last April 14 , when the Argentine Naval Prefecture reported the notification of infringement to two foreign vessels that were sailing 245 nautical miles off the coast of the city of Comodoro Rivadavia.

For his part, the foreign minister of the trans-Andean country, Alberto Van Klaveren , said he was concerned about the incident, but ruled out any intention of “harassment” on the part of Argentina.

"We are concerned about this issue, we are in talks with Argentina, but what I want to clarify is that this is not a specific problem towards Chile," said the Chilean official. "This derives from a general application of Argentine legislation that affects vessels of different flags. In fact, in this case we are talking about a tugboat that is of Chilean origin, but also a Taiwanese vessel.

"We have a difference with Argentina regarding the scope of that legislation, but it is not a specific issue of the relationship between Chile and Argentina," Van Klaveren said.

The Chilean official added that “there have been some previous cases in previous years. Basically it is a problem between a private shipowner and the Argentine State, due to the application of legislation that this shipowner objects to.”

Sources:

Memo

Once upon a time

Biobio