LETTER | Argentine Decrees
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- por Fernanda Muñoz
- Cartas
La Tercera, June 25, 2024
DEAR DIRECTOR:
It is excellent news that the Argentine ambassador indicates he will request a correction to Decree 457 of 2021 regarding the defense policy of that country, where they mistakenly refer to the “exploration, study, and joint control of the Strait of Magellan and the Drake Passage.”
We could ask him to include in that request the elimination of Decree 256 of 2010, which restricts freedom of navigation between Stanley Port and Punta Arenas Port, as it requires prior authorization from Argentine authorities to pass through Argentine jurisdictional waters, which obviously occurs when approaching the eastern mouth of the strait from the Atlantic. Decree 256 is a clear violation of Article V of the 1881 Treaty, which literally states that “free navigation for the flags of all nations is assured,” as well as Article 10 of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984, which reaffirms what was agreed in 1881 and explicitly reinforces it by stating that “The Argentine Republic undertakes to maintain, at all times and under all circumstances, the right of vessels of all flags to navigate freely and without obstacles through its jurisdictional waters to and from the Strait of Magellan.”
Richard Kouyoumdjian
Vice President AthenaLab
Source: La Tercera
