MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina-Chile naval exercises in Beagle channel

Argentine and Chilean naval forces will hold this week the Viekaren IX joint exercises in the Beagle channel zone in Tierra del Fuego, extreme south of South America, according to a release from the Chilean navy.

The Beagle channel became the official border between Chile and Argentina in the early eighties, following a papal mediation which ended a century long dispute, and is the natural link for Puerto Williams (Chile) and Ushuaia (Argentina). The purpose of the exercise is to improve the inter-operational capacity between the two navies and will include search and rescue operations, communications, medical evacuation and support for emergency situations. Chile will be participating with the patrol vessels "Sibbald" and "Alacufe" plus the Puerto Williams logistics operational centre that includes environmental pollution monitoring. Argentina's counterpart will be patrol and support vessels "Alferez Sobral" and "Baradero". Following briefings on the exercise's different stages, with the participation of the high commands of both navies, vessels will be off to the sea on Wednesday to engage in the planned actions which are scheduled to last until next Friday. The joint Viekaren exercise (which means "trust" in Tierra del Fuego indigenous dialect) dates back to April, 1999, when the neighbouring countries decided to organize annual combined naval actions in the extreme south of the continent, and in the framework of the 1984 Peace and Friendship Treaty signed by Argentina and Chile. The treaty was ratified by a referendum in Argentina and put an end to decades of mistrust including almost a full fledged war in December 1978 when the neighbouring countries were ready to combat over the disputed Beagle channel and the Lennox, Picton and Nueva islands. The exercise is alternatively organized and commanded by the Chilean Third Naval Zone in Punta Arenas and Argentina's Naval Austral Area in Ushuaia. Last week Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Michelle Bachelet met in Punta Arenas and Rio Gallegos (Argentina) to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of John Paul II mediation which impeded the 1978 war and opened the way for the peace process. Together with a special envoy from Pope Benedict XVI the two presidents put the founding stone of a monument to John Paul in Mount Aymond the frontier pass which links Punta Arenas with Rio Gallegos.