The controversy between Chile and Argentina regarding continental shelf limits south of Tierra del Fuego has triggered a series of exchanges, some public, others more low-key, but there is a growing consensus that any solution must emerge from the bilateral dialogue.
UK Deputy Foreign Secretary for Europe and the Americas Wendy Morton held on Monday several meetings in Buenos Aires with officials from the new Argentine government looking to strengthen bilateral ties as well as boosting trade and investment.
The Argentine government made official the appointment of Daniel Filmus as head of the Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic Secretary, which depends on the ministry of foreign affairs and worship.
By Osvaldo N Mársico (Chairman of COPLA) (*) - In my capacity as the head of the COPLA National Committee on Argentina’s Continental Platform at the Foreign Ministry, I would like to refer to the letter of Professor Peter Willets published last Saturday (Mercopress) concerning the outer limit of the Argentine continental shelf and clarify some mistakes and misconceptions evident in Professors Willets’ letter.
A strong controversy is expected following statements from Chilean officials who downplayed the significance of the recent UN continental shelf maritime extension referred to Argentina and which included the Falklands, South Atlantic Islands and Antarctica territory.
Argentina made a technical presentation last week before the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, on the exterior limits of the Argentine shelf in which the claimed territories of the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and ‘Argentine Antarctica’ were included.
Argentina’s National Securities Commission, CNV, officially communicated leading international stock exchanges in the US and Europe that hydrocarbons companies operating in the Argentine continental shelf in the area of the disputed Falklands/Malvinas Islands are involved in “illicit and clandestine” activities.