MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile freezes relation and calls off series of meetings with Argentina

Sergio Galvarino Apablaza Guerra charged with killing a Chilean Senator and kidnapping the son of newspaper owner

Chilean Argentine relations deteriorated seriously on Tuesday when the government of President Sebastian Piñera announced they were calling off a series of meetings at Foreign Affairs ministerial level following on Buenos Aires decision to grant political asylum to a former guerrilla fighter.

The situation further complicated when Argentine Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman reacted to remarks from Senator Andrés Chadwick Piñera, from the ruling Conservative coalition saying they were “nonsense” and wondered ‘who this Senator is, never heard of him’.

Former guerrilla fighter Sergio Galvarino Apablaza Guerra is charged with the murder of Conservative Senator Jaime Guzmán, killed in 1991 and the kidnapping of media businessman Christian Edwards del Río, son of the owner of El Mercurio newspaper. Both alleged crimes were committed when democracy had been restored to Chile.

In Buenos Aires Cabinet Chief and trouble shooter Aníbal Fernández came out in defence of the Argentine government and said that the decision to grant the former guerrilla leader with asylum was a humanitarian, not a political act.

“With everyday that passes, things will return to their natural state and back where they belong. Granting Apablaza with asylum is a peaceful, humanitarian act, not a political one,” he said. Fernandez added that “the CONARE is a very prestigious institution”.

Earlier Tuesday the Chilean government confirmed that a one of the bilateral meetings scheduled to be held on October 13th in Santiago had been cancelled.

After tendering Argentine Foreign Minister Ginés González García with an official letter of complaint from his government Monday night, Chilean Foreign Secretary Alfredo Moreno explained his government was “not in the mood for meetings”.

Meantime the Argentine Foreign Affairs in a brief release said that bilateral ministerial cabinet meetings with Chile will take place November 18, 19 in Santiago. This should be the third round of talks since the Cooperation and Integration Maipu Treaty agreed last October with Chile.

“The bi-national cabinet meeting will address issues from the common agenda and elaborate sector strategies following on what was outlined by the presidents”, said the release.