Claudio Alvarado, Minister of the Interior and Minister Secretary General of Government (Segegob), criticized statements by the United States ambassador to Chile, Brandon Judd. According to the minister, his remarks "distract" and "generate media noise".
Alvarado spoke in an interview with Tele13 Radio, according to T13. He ruled out any pressure over national territory: "Chile's sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan is not at stake," he said.
Judd has been at the center of several controversies in recent months. He even had to clarify some of his remarks. According to El Mostrador, the ambassador previously said that "if you want a country that helps protect your rights over the Strait of Magellan, then you will have to work with us." He also maintained that "there is no Antarctica that belongs to Chile."
The minister recalled that Chile exercises sovereignty over the strait under two treaties, one from 1881 and another from 1984. He added that this recognition was recently reaffirmed by Argentine President Javier Milei during his visit to the country and his meeting with President José Antonio Kast.
"We have a very good cooperative relationship with the United States, but we exercise our sovereignty on our own, and it is not subject to any kind of negotiation or any kind of pressure," Alvarado said.
Asked about possible unease within the government, the minister referred the matter to diplomacy. "The Foreign Ministry acts by speaking with the ambassador and taking whatever action it deems appropriate," he said. He did not specify whether any concrete measure would follow.
The controversy has already reached Congress. Fourteen opposition deputies asked Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna to declare Judd persona non grata. They accuse him of interfering in Chile's internal affairs, including the Strait of Magellan, Antarctica and the submarine cable with China.
In the same interview, Alvarado defended the government's response to the mudslide in Las Condes. Critics pointed out that he and the undersecretary of the Interior were outside the capital during the emergency. "The government functions, and it functions from the regions," he replied.
The minister also detailed the reduction of up to 25% in Autopista Central TAG tolls announced by Kast on Monday. He explained that, to compensate for the lower revenue, the concession term will be extended by 20 months.
