DEC. 15, 2021

President Piñera leads meeting about Report on Antarctic Extended Continental Shelf

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister André Allamand, Interior and Public Security Minister Rodrigo Delgado and National Defense Minister Baldo Prokurica. Also in attendance were Defense Undersecretary Cristián de la Maza, Commander in Chief of the Navy Juan Andrés de la Maza, and the Director of the National State Borders and Boundaries Department, Ximena Fuentes. .

The message presented by President of the Republic of Chile Sebastián Piñera Echenique follows:

One of the most important duties that Chile’s presidents undertake is to protect and preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our nation.  This involves maintaining and protecting our natural land, sea and air borders and defending our sovereign rights in all areas.
 
Our government has carried out this mission and will continue to do so, not only because it is required of us in our Constitution and laws, but also because we are fully aware of the enormous sacrifices, efforts and sleepless nights that so many generations of Chileans have endured to bequeath to us a free country with a presence on three continents. Chile has over 4,000 miles of land that stretches from Arica to Cape Horn. Chile also has an extensive collection of islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Chilean Antarctic territory, which covers over one million square kilometers.
 
We have carried out this mission because we are also fully aware of the importance of this work for our country’s future, for the next generations and for humanity as a whole.
 
In view of this, last October, my administration submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLPC) the first partial presentation on the Extended Continental Shelf of the Province of Easter Island and Salas and Gómez Island. The goal was for this scientific commission, established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to validate the length of our continental shelf in that province beyond 200 miles.  In this presentation, we claimed our right to the land and sea subsoil spanning over 550,000 square kilometers that reaches over 700 miles from the coast of Easter Island.
 
Furthermore, in August 2020, we passed the Chilean Antarctic Statute, which systematizes, coordinates and updates the regulations and institutions that govern our country’s presence in and relationship with Antarctica. This law gives us new and better tools for carrying out our duty to protect and care for Antarctica and to protect and strengthen our sovereign rights. This includes those related to the Antarctic Continental Shelf with clear geographic, historical and legal foundations, as well as those related to our physical presence there.  This statute fully aligns with the international obligations that Chile has undertaken as part of the Antarctic Treaty, which dates back to 1959, and which Chile promoted and helped establish.
 
Various documents, chronicles and maps mention Tierra Australis and describe Antarctica as part of our territory since Chile was the Captaincy General of Chile in the 16th century.
 
Let us recall the beautiful verses of Alonso de Ercilla’s “La Araucana,” which were published 443 years ago, in which the poet evokes our country, saying: “Chile, fertile and chosen province in the famous Antarctic Region...”
 
And the last words of our founding father, Bernardo O’Higgins, who exclaimed just before his death: “Magallanes, Magallanes,” anticipating the importance that the Antarctic Continent would have for our country and the geopolitical importance of Chile taking possession of the Strait of Magellan and making it part of our national territory, thus extending our reach to Antarctica. This goal was achieved with the founding of Fort Bulnes and Chile’s move to lay claim to the Strait of Magellan in 1843.
 
Our country also has a series of inalienable and unquestionable rights to Antarctica that are based on geographic, historic and legal evidence, as well as our country’s presence there.
 
They are geographic because we are the closest country to the Antarctic continent, and we have a shelf in the South American continent and Antarctica, which confirms the tricontinental nature of our nation.  
 
They are historical and legal because our rights date back to Spanish colonial titles and the acts of possession completed in the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century. We were the first and only country to receive legal titles to the Antarctic territory during a period in which there was a lack of certainty regarding the continent’s physical and geographic characteristics, which were known only through unconfirmed reports. This is strengthened by the issuing of orders, regulations, statutes and other rules by the Chilean government. Those rules were ratified and enacted as legislature regarding various matters and activities related to Chilean Antarctica, which we officially claimed in 1906.
 
One November 6, 1940, under the government of President Pedro Aguirre Cerda, the limits of Chilean Antarctic Territory were defined between 53° longitude West and 90° longitude West of Greenwich.
 
Eight years later, on February 17, 1948, President Gabriel González Videla took part in the second Chilean expedition to Antarctica, becoming the first world leader to set foot on Antarctic soil. On that historic day, speaking from the Sovereign Chilean Navy Base on the South Shetland Islands, President González Videla stated, “To all of Chile, which I am sure is watching this memorable act, I offer this land of tomorrow. I am certain that its people will know to bravely maintain the sovereignty and unity of our territory, from Arica to the South Pole.”
 
Today we are reaching a new milestone in the exercise of our sovereignty over “The Land of Tomorrow,” Chilean Antarctic Territory, by celebrating the conclusion of the first report on the extended western continental shelf of Chilean Antarctic Territory. This report will be submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in early January of next year, and it covers an extensive area of more than 210,000 square kilometers. Although the entity will not rule on the report by virtue of the Antarctic Treaty, it is an important effort that demonstrates Chile’s commitment to Antarctica, and it is proof of our active role in the scientific research on and conservation of that continent.
 
The report contains the results of 12 years of bathymetric research and scientific and technical studies.
 
Antarctica is the white continent, the continent of the future. The future of humanity, science and technology.  The continent is the future of Chile, of new generations, and of the entire world. That is why it is our duty to protect and conserve it so that it continues to be “The Land of Tomorrow,” as President González Videla baptized it.
 
We must protect the biodiversity and natural resources of the Antarctic continent. We must also protect its fresh water reserves, which represent 77% of all of the reserves on the planet. And we must protect its climate, because the effects that it has on the global climate, on the temperature, productivity and health of the oceans, are key to successfully ending the climate crisis and preserving the survival of the human species on Earth.