COLUMN | Boric and the South Pole

We must have a permanent base in the South Pole if we truly want to be an Antarctic country, with 63% of our territory in Antarctica.

It is well known that I am not a fan of President Boric, but it is appropriate to acknowledge his trip at the end of last week to the South Pole in what was called “Operation Polar Star III”, a journey of high geopolitical and strategic significance, and we should not diminish the merits he deserves for reaching the most extreme, southern point of Chile simply because he is President Boric.

If Chile claims to be a country that stretches from north to south, starting in Arica and ending at the South Pole, the least one would expect is that every President of the Republic has visited both places during their term, applying the same to Rapa Nui and other Chilean islands located in the Southeastern Pacific.

Various reasons and explanations can be given for a president’s visit to the South Pole and the exploration of Chilean Antarctic territory, but I assure you that the President, along with those accompanying him, was not there for leisure. He was with several ministers, commanders-in-chief, and national authorities making a statement of national sovereignty, just as González Videla did 77 years earlier when he visited Greenwich Island in the South Shetlands, a visit necessary to reaffirm Chilean sovereignty over territories that President Pedro Aguirre Cerda had previously declared as Chilean, which were being contested by the British and Argentinians at the end of World War II.

It is possible that this presidential trip to the South Pole was not an idea from the presidency or the foreign ministry; perhaps, who knows, due to its impeccable execution, it was an idea from the Armed Forces. However, what matters is that it happened, and equally important is that it continues to happen regularly, and that the next step is to establish a Chilean base next to the Amundsen-Scott base of the United States.

It is entirely logical for us to have a Chilean base in the South Pole. Can you imagine not having facilities on our border with Peru or Bolivia? Our southernmost temporary (summer) base is located at the Unión Glacier, at latitude 79° South, which is 1,080 kilometers from the South Pole. If we are talking about Chilean Antarctic territory, we must ensure that it is more than just words; we must make it a reality.

This trip by President Boric may have been overshadowed by current issues such as pension discussions or the purchases of the homes of former presidents Allende and Aylwin, which does not allow for a full appreciation of the importance of this visit to the southernmost part of Chile. However, it is concerning that this same media outlet asked a significant portion of its readers last week the following:

Is Operation Polar Star III, which took President Boric, military authorities, and scientists to the South Pole, important? Responses: Yes: 26%; No: 60.2%; I don’t know, I am not familiar with what it entails: 13.9%.

That only 26% of El Líbero readers appreciate the importance of the presidential trip may have several explanations, but at the end of the day, it indicates that we have a problem, and that problem is that it is very likely that Chileans do not understand the importance of Chilean Antarctica, that it is part of Chile,, and that if we do not effectively assert our sovereignty, we are indicating that our claims over Chilean Antarctic territory are merely words without value, and that it is a matter that does not extend beyond the concern of those knowledgeable in the field and those who understand the strategic value of such matters.

Chile has been making progress in Antarctic matters, currently having three naval vessels present and dedicated to this issue, including the new icebreaker Almirante Viel. Meanwhile, the Army and the Air Force also dedicate significant resources to this part of Chile, and obviously, the Foreign Ministry does the same through INACH, which has been established in Punta Arenas for several years.

Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams have also seen improvements in their port and scientific infrastructure, primarily aimed at Southern and Antarctic Chile. Some investments are already completed, while others are in development, but what is important is that they are happening, and at the pace they are occurring, we will far surpass what Argentina and the United Kingdom are doing in this area. However, that said, we must have a permanent base in the South Pole if we truly want to be an Antarctic country, with 63% of our territory in Antarctica.

In the past, we have already ceded Chilean territory to our trans-Andean neighbors, something of which we are much more aware and regretful today than in the past. We must be firm in safeguarding not only continental and insular Chile but also our Antarctic territory, the southern seas of Chile, our economic platforms both regular and extended, and everything over which Chile has rights, claims, or ownership.

Sovereignty is established through presence and the capacity to project state power significantly. In that sense, the presidential visit is moving in the right direction, as the Head of State, accompanied by several ministers, the heads of the Armed Forces, and other national authorities, traveled to the southernmost point of Chile. That is how we assert sovereignty and project the power of Chile.