MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile tries to cool escalating conflict with Argentina

Foreign Affairs minister Alfredo Moreno: “enough for the moment”

Chilean Foreign Affairs minister Alfredo Moreno said Wednesday he would not make any further comments involving the serious controversy which erupted following Argentina’s decision to deny extradition of a Chilean guerrilla fighter charged with the killing of a Senator and kidnapping the son of a media owner in 1991 when democracy had been restored to Chile.

On Tuesday Argentine cabinet chief Aníbal Fernández stated that granting Sergio Galvarino Apablaza Guerra with political asylum was a “pacific, humanitarian act”. However Minister Moreno in Santiago said he would not be part of an “escalation of statements” and declined to comment.

Moreno said that on Monday Chile presented a formal note of protest to Argentina and “that is enough for the moment. We’ve made our case plain clear to the Argentine government through their ambassador”. He added that “we are not going to be part of an escalation of statements. I think it’s the people who have to judge if our actions are the correct ones”.

Chilean authorities also on Tuesday said that they were calling off a series of meetings that Foreign Ministers from both countries were scheduled to have this month.

On Tuesday leading Chilean Senator Conservative Andres Chadwick anticipated it was going to be very difficult to have a confidence relation “with the Argentine government, the President and the Kirchner couple” and described Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman “insolent replies” as someone who lacks “human and intellectual category”.

The day before Timerman had taunted Senator Chadwick saying his comments on the reasons why Argentina had denied extradition were an “embarrassment and nonsense”, and went even further, “who’s that Senator?, I’ve never heard of him”.

Chadwick who also happens to be a first cousin of President Sebastián Piñera alleged that the Argentine government decision was based on “political-electoral speculation ahead of 2011 presidential election” and fears of a “backlash from human rights groups”, one of the banners of the Kirchner administration.

Meantime in Buenos Aires the main opposition party has summoned Minister Timerman to congress to explain why it was decided to grant political asylum to a former guerrilla fighter. The Argentine Senate also requested the presence of Federico Agusti, the Refugees National Commission that voted unanimously to grant Apablaza asylum in spite of the Chilean Justice charges.

“The (Argentine) government decision is contrary to the unrestricted prevalence of human rights and since it’s a brother-country, in full exercise of democratic institutions, measures of this nature are offensive”, reads the official release from the Argentine opposition.