BORDER CONFLICT BETWEEN CHILE-ARGENTINA: SOUTHERN ICE FIELDS: AN UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH

Abstract

Within the neighboring borders, Argentina and Chile have had to face several

political, diplomatic and even military disagreements due to border controversies,

which have been solved mainly in the century that has already passed. In this

scenario, added to the recent difference arising from the Argentine extension of the

Continental Shelf, there is an underlying one that will last 30 years, as is the case

of Campos de Hielo Sur (Chile) or Hielos Continental (Argentina), lo De norte a

South, there are 24,000 glaciers in Chile, a large number that is increasing both in

size and quantity, the closer we get to the southern zone.

“These continental ice are divided into two fractions, one larger than the other; the

first corresponds to the North Ice Fields; where Mount San Valentín stands out,

which feeds the Exploradores glacier, the San Rafael lagoon, the Exploradores and

Leones valleys, as well as the Steffen glacier. The second and most extensive

corresponds to Campos de Hielo Sur; where some glaciers and lakes are detached

towards the Argentine side by the province of Santa Cruz, these vast frozen fields

occupy the third place worldwide after Antarctica and Greenland in terms of quantity

of ice and size, but currently despite Its wealth and magnitude, there is a territory of

about 1000 km2 that is not yet defined between Chile and Argentina, giving way to

a territorial conflict that has been sought to resolve over the years, without reaching

conclusive treaties. A matter of utmost importance today for both countries, since

more than defining limits, the emphasis falls on the amount of fresh water stored in

these ancient ice, a vital and scarce resource for humans and ecosystems. A real

and tangible shortage that could bring future conflicts between both States”

Beginning in the 1990s, negotiations to delimit the section of each of the countries,

which were settled through the 1998 Agreement. This paper aims, through its

content, to analyze the discussions that arose as a result of the subject of the Fields

of Hielo Sur between 1990 until today, relevant footnotes to state that in the opinion

of this part, this is a controversy not yet resolved, which has been demonstrated until

today it has not been possible to establish a definitive delimitation policy in this area,

which we consider represents a determining issue regarding the scarcity of water

generated as a consequence of the effects of climate change that affects the

continent and the world.