MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Chile has cleared 140 of 194 minefields; by 2020 the territory should entirely free
Chile has cleared 72% of minefields in its territory, and expects to have finished the task by March 2020, according to the head of the country's De-mining Committee Army Colonel Rodrigo Ventura. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules1. Chile had previously represented to the international community that they would remove all mines by the year 2010. Ooops.
May 29th, 2016 - 03:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 02. The Chilean government website which purported to identify for the benefit of the public the locations of all the minefields, in fact failed to show on their website all those minefields, including those that were clearly marked at their physical sites.
3. The need to place the mines in the first place was in response to the aggression by neighbouring Argentina, and the assumption that Bolivia and Perú would enter the fray following Argentina's planned invasion in 1978.
4. It is fashionable in Argentina today to deny that Argentina was planning to invade Chile to seize Chilean territory in the Beagle Channel area, just as it is fashionable here (in Argentina) to deny the genocides against the indigenous peoples, to deny default events, to deny inflation rates, to deny crime rates, to deny corruption levels, and so on . The perpetual state of denial.
Marti
May 29th, 2016 - 08:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You're correct for the reason why we planted mines on or borders. Especially in 1978.
Probably why it has taken so long to remove them is because some maps were poorly made and sometimes mines shift location in the sands.
Other than killing an occasional drug smuggler or Guanaco, mines are not that all of a problem anyway...
@2 In Magallanes there was a lot of pressure from the tourism industry and the overly squishy that the minefield signs and the presence of minefields was bad public relations, that it somehow harmed tourism, that the “imagen país” was thus damaged. So the intendente worked to prioritise the removal of the mines and signs between Natales and Torres del Paine. Of course there are still very visible minefields between Punta Arenas and Natales so I am not sure just what was accomplished. In that same section, near Cabeza del Mar, there is evidence that the Chilean forces in 1978 did a good job of preparing defensive positions to channelise the anticipated argie invasion and make them pay dearly for every meter of ground. Near those minefields there also large-diametre concrete pipe sections that were dug in for protecting the Chileno defenders against overhead artillery ordnance bursts. The people in this region who were here in 1978 remember very well the imminent threat of the argie invasion, something they have in common with the islanders. Though tensions are lower these days, Chile still keeps one of its best tank regiments next door to Puerto Natales. They are more than a match for any armoured unit in Argentistan these days.
May 29th, 2016 - 10:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In the north the minefields are useful for controlling incursions by the cholivians and the peruchos (not to be confused with peronchos) - as you indicated. But there have been cases of the mines getting washed into arroyos during storms, and then (since they float) appearing on the beaches near Arica.
Mine clearing is a nasty business. Until very recently I kept my old plastic mine-probe from the 1991 war (Gulf War/Operation Granby/Desert Storm).
saludos
Demining is a hard expensive buisness thats why the Falklands were pushed to demine to encourage everyone else to get on with it.
May 30th, 2016 - 06:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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