The authorities of Chile have communicated that they will send a formal note of protest to the Government of Argentina due to the statements made this Sunday by the Chief of the General Staff of the Argentine Air Force, Gustavo Javier Valverde, regarding sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan.
The announcement has been disseminated by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the newspaper "La Tercera", after Valverde commented on the strategic relevance of this southern maritime passage during his participation in the program La Fábrica Podcast.
"The other important thing we have, Magallanes, the south, the Drake, all of that is sovereignty. We have to maintain presence there because that is a bioceanic key Atlantic-Pacific, and that can alert you to a lot of things," Valverde stated during the aforementioned interview.
In response to these words, the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, has firmly stated that Chile's sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan "in its entirety is indisputable and is based on the treaties of 1881 and 1984, signed by both countries."
The Chilean chancellor has also issued a "severe" message through social media, in which he has called on "the authorities of other countries to be responsible with their statements and not to confuse their citizens."
"The Strait of Magellan is indisputably Chilean," Pérez Mackenna has asserted in a video message disseminated this Monday on his official profiles.