MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Twentieth anniversary of Argentina-Chile peace treaty

Congress members plus Navy officers from Argentina and Chile paid homage Monday in the Beagle Channel to Pope John Paul II in coincidence with the twentieth anniversary of the enforcement of the Peace and Friendship Treaty between both countries.

Pope John Paul II played a leading role in stopping an imminent full fledged armed conflict between the then dictatorships of Argentina and Chile in Christmas 1978 over disputed islands in the Beagle Channel.

A special Vatican envoy Cardinal Antonio Samoré managed the signing of a first peace understanding in Montevideo, in early 1979, which finally led to the drafting of a Peace and Friendship Treaty that sealed the insular and sea influence dispute.

The ceremony was organized by Chilean Deputy Isabel Allende, daughter of the former Chilean president deposed by General Pinochet in 1973 and Argentine counterpart Jorge Argüello who were accompanied by legislators as well as naval officers from both countries.

The Chilean delegation left from Punta Arenas in two naval patrols Hallef and Alacalufe and later boarded the Argentine logistics vessel, "Patagonia", anchored in the middle of the Beagle channel, a few miles northeast of Puerto Williams.

Following the singing of national anthems and a joint religious service, legislators from both countries in brief speeches recalled the anniversary and the decisive intervention of John Paul II, and finally held hands on the deck of the vessel.

The ceremony concluded with a flower offering in the sea.