MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina and Chile recall Pope's peace mediation.

Argentina and Chile paying homage to deceased Pope John Paul II recalled the leading role he played in preventing an armed conflict in December 1978 and how his special envoy set the foundations for a long lasting peace and friendship treaty from which both countries have since amply benefited.

In 1978 just a few weeks after becoming Pope, John Paul received appeals from the Argentine and Chilean Catholic Churches begging for his initiative to help stop an imminent war between the two then military dictatorships that were at their throats over disputed islands in the Beagle Channel.

In a nationally broadcasted message Argentine president Nestor Kirchner said the country's collective memory will always remember Pope John Paul II and his efforts to ensure peace with the sister republic of Chile.

Mr. Kirchner added that in 1982, two days before the defeat in Malvinas, "John Paul came to Argentina to accompany and comfort the Argentine people". It was "a presence full of love in moments of extreme gravity".

The Argentine president also underlined the Polish Pope's commitment to fighting poverty and "his vision to solve the foreign debt problem" which is "a curse for so many countries".

Chilean president Ricardo Lagos described John Paul II as a "fundamental" actor in world affairs" and an "indefatigable fighter for peace, freedom, dignity and human rights".

President Lagos said the Pope had a special consideration for Chile and this was expressed "at moments of darkness and moments of joy. That love took shape in unforgettable events and moments".

He recalled papal mediation "when the danger of war between brothers", in 1978, as well as his interest in the building of democracy and the establishment of freedom and dignity with his "dramatic call that the poor can't wait".

The 1978 pre conflict was defused when papal mediator Cardenal Antonio Samoré arrived in Buenos Aires and Santiago in December of that year and after several contacts pronounced the famous words, "at the end of the tunnel there's a light of hope".

Finally the war was prevented, in January 1979 in Montevideo a first understanding was signed between the neighbouring countries sealed in the 1984 peace and friendship accord.

Gratitude from Argentina was even greater since at the end of the conflict in June 1982 his presence in Buenos Aires "was a voice of hope, a mitigation of the pain and grief and prevented any excesses from the defeated military regime", highlighted Carlos Culver, current Argentine Ambassador before the Vatican.

"A gesture of solidarity when the chaos of Malvinas, which will never be forgotten by the Argentine people", concluded Ambassador Culver.