ARGENTINA-CHILE: Military Integration On The Back Burner

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jul 31 1997 (IPS) - The commanders of Chile and Argentina’s armed forces are resisting the efforts of their own defence ministers to unite their armies in the first joint military exercises between the two in 150 years.

Earlier this month two nations’ defence ministers together announced plans for joint military manoeuvres in the first half of 1988, whereupon the commanders on both sides immediately began to complain.

The mutual reluctance may be traced to a long history of rivalry between them and to a border dispute that brought both nations to the brink of war nearly 20 years ago.

In marked contrast to the way business links between the two countries have grown briskly in recent years, Argentina’s military argues that more time is needed in the military sphere.

They want contents to solidify over a period, as happened between Argentina and Brazil, before calling joint exercises. They also want the Chilean army to be more open about its military doctrine, organisational structure and command systems.

Last October, Argentina and Brazil participated in joint manouevres, after setting aside a rivalry that almost led to war in 1870. Reconciliation was eased by their shared membership in the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), grouping Argentina, Braz il, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile (as an associate member). Military links proved to be a coincidental side effect of deepening economic and political cooperation under Mercosur.

But Argentinian officials say that there is at least one unresolved problem between them, citing the words of retired Chilean general Alejandro Medina Lois, whom many consider an unofficial military spokesman, and his warnings about the threat borne by a border dispute over the Continental Ice Shelf.

In 1991, the Argentinian and Chilean governments reached agreements over 24 disputed border zones, but two delineations were never ratified by the parliaments of either nation, which share a 3,000 mile border.

The controversy over an area known as Laguna del Desierto (Desert Lake) in the Andes mountainous chain was submitted to international arbitration which ruled on behalf of Argentina in 1994.

That left the Continental Ice Shelf, a 1,320 square mile of territory whose division was agreed by government negotiators, but has been rejected by both parliaments, which consider it inequitable.

This unresolved territorial dispute, combined with Chile’s recent rearming, unsettles Argentina’s military. As a result, there is considerable hesitancy between the two nations’ armed forces, unlike the easy fluidity that characterizes bilateral business dealings.

Since 1991, the Chilean business community has invested six billion dollars in Argentina, and plans to double that amount in the next two years.

Chile’s sizable investment in Argentina — which includes strategic areas such as gas and electricity — make Chile Argentina’s foremost foreign investor after the United States.

The extraordinary confidence expressed by Chilean investors has successfully allayed a number of fears in the neighbouring country.

However, back in 1978, when Chile and Argentina were ruled by military dictatorships, the two nations nearly came to war over control of Beagle Canal at the southern tip of the continent.

In that event, only Papal mediation prevented armed conflict. Finally, in 1984, a Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed, resulting in mutual agreement over canal ownership. Since then, relations between the two countries have grown progressively warm er. Both governments – and their respective business communities – are pleased by the ongoing rapprochement.

Jorge Dominguez, Argentina’s minister of defence, believes “that military unification should proceed at the same pace as integration in other areas”. The head of Argentina’s armed forces, general Martin Balza, agrees with Dominguez, although many milit ary officials do not.

Chilean military leaders also express reservations. Edmundo Perez Yoma, Chile’s defence minister, says that joint operations would probably be good for bilateral relations. However, just two months ago in Madrid, Chile still spoke of Argentina as “a pos sible source of conflict”.

Chile’s army is still led by ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet, who is scheduled to quit his post in March 1998. President Eduardo Frei soon will designate Pinochet’s successor and some observers believe the “changing guard” will be good for international r elations.

Without Pinochet, the conflict over the Continental Ice Shelf would still exist. However, the Argentinian government is determined to resolve this issue to clear a path so that permits military integration to proceed at the same speed as economic ties. ( END/IPS/MV/AA/AK/RJ/97)