Argentina and Chile Sign Accord Settling Border Disputes
The presidents of Argentina and Chile on Friday settled border disputes that date from the last century and once brought the South American nations to the brink of war.
During a televised ceremony in Buenos Aires, Patricio Aylwin of Chile and Carlos Saul Menem of Argentina signed accords settling 23 points of contention along the Andes Mountains.
Under the borders pact, the only remaining dispute will be submitted to a tribunal of Latin American experts, who will rule on which country will keep a Patagonian area 1,900 miles south of Buenos Aires.
“Chile and Argentina are now firmly on the path toward integration,” Menem said earlier Friday.
In 1978, when both nations were ruled by military dictators, Chile and Argentina nearly went to war over three tiny islands in the Beagle Channel off Chile. That dispute was solved by papal mediation in 1984.
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