THE FUTURE OF SOUTHERN PATAGONIAN ICE FIELDS (SPIF) IN CONNECTION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHT OF THE SEA (UNCLOS)

Abstract

This article exposes some legal and geopolitical effects that will eventually have for Chile “the controversy” of Southern Patagonian Ice Fields, with special emphasis on the uncalculated scope for the case of applying the Argentine thesis to the sub-lite case. The fact is of particular gravity for Chile, with regard to the advance of geographical transformations that the phenomenon of “ClimateChange” will bring to the area. This situation then takes a decisive legal and geopolitical aspect for Chile, under the provisions of the “United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” (CONVEMAR)-ratified by the country-. Observing in a future scenario, the possibility that in the long term Argentina can -according to the agreements of 1991 and 1998- finally access the Pacific Ocean.This would openly violate the Treaty of Limits of 1881, the Protocol of 1893 and the Agreement of Experts of 1898, which defined the border of the area at the time.

This work makes use of a qualitative-descriptive methodology based on open sources, which include: International instruments; such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), specialized texts and historiographical contributions that deal with the subject.