MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina's Ambassador to Chile a nuisance to local authorities

Former Foreign Minister Faurie denied the allegations

Argentina's Ambassador and former Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie was reported Friday to have been disrespectful to members of Chile's diplomatic corps and other authorities of the hosting country. Four letters were sent to Chile's Presidency explaining the situation during a recent joint visit to the Libertadores border crossing.

 Faurie was Foreign Minister under President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) and has also served as Argentina's Ambassador to Portugal and France.

“My country was already an agricultural power while you were just learning to eat,” Faurie reportedly told the Chilean delegation during a March 15 meeting in Uspallata, in the Argentine province of Mendoza.

During a trip to the Cristo Redentor International Complex, also known as Los Libertadores, the two delegations toured the Integrated Control Area (ACI), where border and customs officers from the two countries work together with Chile's Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) inspectors.

The mission was made up of Faurie, Chile's Ambassador to Buenos AiresJosé Antonio Viera-Gallo, and the consul in Mendoza, David Quiroga Hinojosa, among other officials. The group was to find ways to “make procedures more efficient and reduce cargo transport times,” after Argentine authorities claimed that Chilean officials were delaying traffic with over-thorough check-ups.

The Chilean diplomats said they felt uneasy given Faurie's attitude towards them. He “got upset to the point of raising his tone of voice in an exacerbated manner,” one of the letters sent to La Moneda noted.

However, Faurie denied these allegations to Chilean media: “There was not such a marked moment of tension” in the meeting, he was quoted as saying.

Regarding his alleged statements mentioning Argentina's agricultural superiority, Faurie said: “I don't remember that part of the dialogue.”