Migration crisis on Peru-Chile border escalates into diplomatic tension

The migration crisis, which has been going on for several days at the border between Peru And Chile this Thursday, diplomatic tensions between the two countries escalated as the foreign ministries called on the ambassadors in Lima and Santiago to protest over disagreements on the issue and without any sign of agreement to jointly resolve this crisis, which affects mainly Venezuelan citizens without documents that are illegal.

The Chilean Foreign Ministry was the first to summon Peruvian Ambassador Jaime Pomareda for a talk with his Deputy Foreign Minister Gloria de la Fuente after Tacna Mayor Pascual Guiz Bravo’s statements to the president. Gabriel Boricwhom he blamed for the current migration crisis on the border of both countries.

“We must not allow a nameless and irresponsible person to transfer problems to the border,” the Peruvian said in an interview with CNN Chile.

For this reason, the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note expressing the “displeasure and concern of the Government of Chile” at the allusions made by the Mayor tacna To Borik “in the context of a migration situation that affects the comprehensive control of Chacalluta-Santa Rosa”.

At the meeting, “the deputy minister, expressing her dissatisfaction with the mayor’s inappropriate statements, stressed the government’s constant readiness to Chile for working together to find a solution to the migration crisis, which currently affects mainly the cities of Arica and tacnaChile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Formerly Carolina Toja, Minister of the Interior Chile, pointed out that “migration has become a very serious problem” in the region in recent years and that Chile, like other countries, has made great efforts to welcome people “who have come from the tragedy” within the framework of the law and in order to cooperate with other states. In this sense, he said that statements such as those of the mayor of Tacna “do not contribute at all”

“Chile He never made them (such declarations), despite the fact that many times he received an uncontrolled migration flow. He will never make them, and that is what we are going to offer our neighbors so that we work more adequately,” he said.

Peru summons Chilean ambassador to Lima

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru He also summoned the Chilean ambassador to Peru this Thursday afternoon to “express his protest over the lack of cooperation from the Chilean police authorities” in the face of the migration crisis at the border of both countries.

“He Ministry of Foreign Affairs Since April 21, he has been holding working meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile in order to jointly search for solutions aimed at resolving the critical migration and humanitarian situation in the border zone in the short and medium term,” the statement says. .

The Foreign Ministry argues that these meetings confirmed the urgent need for the relevant Chilean authorities to guarantee security on Chilean territory in the area of ​​​​the border complexes of Santa Rosa Chacalluta and prevent the blockade of the Pan American Highway.

Finally, Torre Tagle indicated that he considers it “more important” that the talks between the two foreign ministries “bring concrete progress in resolving the migration crisis” and expressed his “readiness to continue the process of dialogue on this basis” in the course with the Chilean Foreign Ministry.

Political positions in the executive branch

In the midst of diplomatic tensions, representatives of the executive branch spoke about the situation on the border, shifting the responsibility for the aggravation of the crisis to Chile.

Such is the case with the President of the Council of Ministers, Alberto Otarola, who asked the government to Gabriel Boric that they do not pass on their problem with illegal migrants to Peru.

“We ask President Boric and other presidents to solve their problems and not throw them into our country. We are actively negotiating with the Chilean immigration authorities to resolve a problem that affects both countries,” he told reporters.

For his part, the Minister of Defense Jorge Chavez Crosspointed out that “within the framework of international law, no country can take actions and decisions to the detriment of another,” and thus blamed the Chilean authorities for the current migration crisis.

The head of Mindef said that international agreements establish that in situations like the current emergency, diplomacy must “articulate, coordinate and speak” in order not to affect one country or another, which, in his opinion, is happening. Chile from Peru.

“It happens that (Chile) allows migrants to leave without any documents and background […] Imagine if we did the same with Ecuador, they would tell us what they are doing,” he said.

This Thursday, the Peruvian government declared a 60-day state of emergency in Tacna, on the border with Chile, to deal with a migrant crisis that has left hundreds of foreign nationals, including Venezuelans, Colombians and Haitians, stranded as they seek to return to their countries or travel to other destinations, but they are trapped by the migration restrictions of Chile and Peru in a vulnerable position.