The controversy arose on Sunday when Valverde addressed the issue in an interview on the YouTube program “La Fabrica del Podcast.”

The chief of the General Staff of the Argentine Air Force said, “The other important thing we have, as you mentioned, Magellan, the south, the Drake Passage, all of that is sovereignty. We must maintain that presence there because it is a key to the transoceanic route.”

In response, Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna said his country’s sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan, in its entirety, is indisputable and is based on the 1881 and 1984 treaties signed by both nations.

Mackenna noted in a video posted on his X profile, “Therefore, I strongly urge the authorities of other countries to be responsible with their statements and not mislead their citizens. The Strait of Magellan is indisputably Chilean.”

abo/iff/idm/car