Beagle conflict

Beagle conflict

Map of the Beagle conflict between Argentina & Chile.
Date1904–1984
Location
Beagle Channel
Result Treaty settlement
Belligerents
Argentina Argentina Chile Chile

Beagle conflict
Background
Events

The Beagle conflict was a border dispute between Chile and Argentina over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war in 1978.

The islands are strategically located off the south edge of Tierra del Fuego and at the east end of the Beagle Channel. The Beagle Channel, the Straits of Magellan and the Drake Passage are the only three waterways between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean in the southern hemisphere.

After refusing to abide by a binding international award giving the islands to Chile, the Argentine junta advanced the nation to war in 1978 in order to produce a boundary consistent with Argentine claims.[1][2]: 6 

The Beagle conflict is seen as the main reason for Chilean support of the United Kingdom during the Falklands War of 1982.[3][4]

The conflict began in 1904 with the first official Argentine claims over the islands that had been under Chilean control ever since southern Patagonia was colonised.[5]: §164 

The conflict passed through several phases. Since 1881, they were as claimed Chilean islands. Beginning in 1904, they were disputed islands, followed later by direct negotiations, submission to a binding international tribunal, further direct negotiations, brinkmanship, and settlement.

The conflict was resolved through papal mediation and since 1984 Argentina has recognized the islands as Chilean territory. The 1984 treaty also resolves several collateral issues of great importance, including navigation rights, sovereignty over other islands in the Fuegian Archipelago, delimitation of the Straits of Magellan, and maritime boundaries south to Cape Horn and beyond.

  1. ^ Mares, David R (May 2004), Natural Gas Pipelines in the Southern Cone, Baker Institute, archived from the original on 6 April 2013, retrieved 26 August 2008
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ALC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ The Chilean connection, archived from the original on 30 April 2012, retrieved 26 August 2008
  4. ^ Torrengo, Carlos (5 September 2005), Malvinas: Argentina sabía que Chile espiaría (in Spanish), Río Negro, Argentina: Editorial of Argentine newspaper Rio Negro, archived from the original on 24 July 2012, retrieved 5 September 2005:
    Chile no ignora que la historia suele pegar brincos insólitos. Argentina – por caso – podía salir airosa del conflicto. Ya por una negociación exitosa para sus intereses, ya por derrotar a los británicos. Si esto sucedía, ¿qué le impediría a Leopoldo Galtieri y compañía apoderarse de las islas del Beagle? ¿O qué los condicionaría a tomar iniciativas de esa naturaleza sobre espacios que, en aquel entonces, eran materia de disputa entre Argentina y Chile?
    (Translation:"Chile knows that the history can do a sudden turn. Argentina – hypothetically – could win the war. Throughout a military victory or throughout negotiations. In this case, who would prevent Galtieri & Co. to take over the islands on the Beagle? what would impede them to take such initiatives over disputed regions?")
  5. ^ Report and Decision of the Court of Arbitration, retrieved on 26 August 2008