On November 28, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Michelle Bachelet, the presidents of Argentina and Chile respectively, met in the Vatican, within the framework of a joint visit to the Holy See to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1984 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed by both countries as a result of the Papal Mediation in the border dispute in the Austral Zone.

The visit comprised joint meetings of both Heads of State with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, as well as separate audiences, while both presidents unveiled a commemorative plaque that renders homage to His Holiness Pope John Paul II who, after only three months as Pontiff, acted decisively as a mediator at that time.

Twenty-five years later, it is worthy of note that the Treaty of 1984 marked the beginning of a phase which completely surpassed the objectives being sought at that time; transforming them into a longing for change and a process of integration between the two countries, in a way previously unheard of in South American geopolitics.

The governments and the societies of Argentina and Chile, with unaccustomed vigour, took up the common objective of integration.

In this context, on October 30 last, they signed the Maipú Treaty of Integration and Cooperation in Chile, reflecting the high qualitative level achieved in the linking of Argentina and Chile, by officially making true and complete inter-country integration a serious objective.

The institutional scheme was re-designed so as to recognise the work carried out by the Integration Committees of recent years. These committees became the engines of local integration along the entire border between both countries, stretching for more than five thousand kilometres, and in which the Argentine provinces and the various regions of Chile worked together, as much on a governmental level, as in the sectors directly related to civil society in both States.

The ministers of both governments have a common agenda, and they are meeting as a bi-national cabinet, presided over by the foreign ministers. In practically all matters on the common agenda, and at all levels of government, they have created mechanisms for mutual understanding, and the diplomatic channels of the two countries have coordinated their positions in regional and multilateral fora. Economic links have increased bilateral trade tenfold, and Chile's investments in Argentina in productive projects total more than $16 billion.

economic transformation

The construction of two bi-oceanic integration corridors will transform the economic geography of the region. The Central Trans-Andean Railroad will bring Argentina closer to the markets of the Pacific Basin, and with the Black Water Tunnel under the Andean Range, the productive nucleus of Mercosur will also have access to the Pacific. With both of these, Chile will gain a connection to the Atlantic, and with this the heart of Mercosur.

Understandings have been arrived at for the establishment of integrated frontier gateways which will facilitate the movement of people and of products, making integration a concrete perspective, and even an individual perspective for those persons who cross the frontier daily, either to trade, or for family or health reasons. The Treaty of Maipú also sets out objectives in the field of cooperation on education, health, institutional matters, and in science and technology, by way of programming specifications and a common strategic vision for facing the future.

progress in relations

One of the points of the agreement is worthy of note. It is the recognition of the Joint 'Southern Cross' Peacekeeping Force, made up of the armed forces of both countries and considered to be a significant addition to international peace and multilateralism within the ambit of the United Nations. This joint peacekeeping force symbolises the progress in Argentine-Chilean relations in this period, since the present cooperation in the area of defence is in stark contrast to the historical role played by the armed forces during the bitter phase of failed attempts at rapprochement as a consequence of the border dispute in the south.

Argentina and Chile over the last 25 years have fashioned a complex framework, which has succeeded in transforming a time of conflict into an era which facilitates a meeting of identities, and the construction of a common perspective, which at the threshold of the bicentenary celebrations of the independence of both countries, guide them towards the creation of a Latin American heritage, which was the dream of the liberators San Mart'n and O'Higgins.

Mario Piño is Ambassador of Argentina and Alfredo Garcia is Ambassador of Chile.