Argentina to remove solar panels Tuesday, weather permitting

Monday, June 17th 2024 - 19:58 UTC

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“Remove the solar panels as soon as possible or we will,” warned a Boric not as tolerant as Chile's Foreign Minister van Klaveren

Argentina's Navy will remove the solar panels mistakenly placed in Chilean territory after President Gabriel Boric Font warned that his country would take action if Buenos Aires failed to comply at the earliest time possible.

“The decision is to remove them tomorrow, depending on weather conditions,” the Libertarian administration said only hours after its Ambassador to Santiago Jorge Faurie had said it would not be possible until the summer.

It was also reported in the Argentine capital that Foreign Minister Diana Mondino will be in charge of announcing when the operation has been completed.

Weather permitting, an Argentine Navy crew is to depart at 2 pm local time on June 18 to dismantle the structures placed three meters into Chile's territory.

The items were placed there on April 29 by technicians from the companies donating them who were reportedly misled by the fences at a nearby ranch which they believed to be marking the international borderline.

Faurie reckoned they should have used satellite geolocation resources a nuisance like this one.

Although Chile's Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren admitted he believed it was a genuine mistake that should spark no rift, Boric was not as tolerant: “Remove the solar panels as soon as possible or we will,” he warned.

“We became aware some time ago that Argentina when installing a military base in the Patagonia region, installed solar panels in Chilean territory. We received an apology from the Argentine Foreign Ministry, but I would like to state very clearly that borders are not something with which one can have ambiguities and that it is a basic principle of respect between countries and therefore they must remove those solar panels as soon as possible or we are going to do it,” Boric was quoted by Chilean media as saying.

The Mirgor Foundation and Total Energies donated the solar panels for Landmark 1 to cover the housing and labor needs of Argentine Navy sentinels monitoring the Strait of Magellan.