History repeats itself, like the ups and downs of the Argentine economy. Until November, it was Chileans who traveled to
Mendoza to shop;
For a month now,
the transit of Argentines to Chile has been incessant.
The start of the XXL weekend showed the worst of the infrastructure of the Mendoza mountain range and the apathy of the Chilean customs authorities, who make people suffer
long waits to cross the border
and arrive on vacation to the Pacific coasts.
From Wednesday afternoon to Thursday noon, the waits at Los Libertadores Customs, upon entering Chile,
exceeded 8 hours.
The distance between the city of Mendoza and Santiago, the trans-Andean capital, is 360 kilometers, and due to the slow pace and the bureaucracy that never had a solution, it can take 14 hours.
"It is inhumane. We left at 11:30 p.m. from Guaymallén, Greater Mendoza. We arrived at the Chilean Customs at 2 in the morning and we are still a kilometer from the building to do the paperwork.
We were cold and there were no bathrooms along that entire route. "
describes Laura Martín, who spent 8 hours waiting, inside the car with her family, in the middle of the Andes mountain range.
Queues of up to eight hours to cross the border with Chile in the Andes Mountains.
More than
13 thousand Argentines
crossed into Chile through the northern border with Mendoza, in the last 48 hours, according to data from the National Gendarmerie.
The figure
doubles the traffic of any weekend
(3,000 tourists daily) and for this Holy Thursday it is expected that, in a single day, they will reach 10 thousand travelers, more than three times that of a normal day.
"Kilometric queues to enter Chile. Really a shame, thousands of tourists trying to enter the country. Mostly families with children, elderly people waiting hours for a bureaucratic procedure. Tourists with medical problems. A disaster," posted Manuel Leuma, one of travelers.
Holy Week: ⚠️Due to the holiday weekend, high flow is expected in and out of Chile, plan your trip and consider waiting times. #UPFinforma pic.twitter.com/TjsCAiYvdQ
— Border Crossings (@UPFronterizos) March 28, 2024
Comprehensive controls
The border between Argentina and Chile through the Cristo Redentor-Los Libertadores pass continues to be
armored,
very different from what happens with other neighboring countries.
The greatest delays persist when you want to enter Chile. The process upon return to Argentina is faster,
just 30 minutes waiting at customs in Horcones.
The Chilean authorities do not prioritize the land crossing. There are few staff for the amount of demand from Argentine tourists they have, especially now, when
due to the rise in prices in Argentina, many products are available in Chile up to three times cheaper.
"They make you take down all your luggage, they put it through a scanner, they open your bags, they throw the dogs on you, they ask you again to put them in the car, and then the SAC (Chilean Agri-Food Services) comes to open them again to make sure you don't bring prohibited foods," describes Andrea, from Mendoza who travels with her 80-year-old mother and father.
Given the complaints of Argentine tourists about the delays in attention ,
the Chilean authorities posted
on the official site
of , and seven positions, at night.
The crossing into Chile through the Cristo Redentor Pass is open 24 hours a day, and will continue with full transit hours until May 31.
In addition to tourism, throughout the year, high mountain National Route 7 is clogged by trucks that go from Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to the port of San Antonio, in Chile, the main exit to the Pacific
. More than 1,000 trucks per day.
It is a winding road, one way round trip, with snails on the Chilean side and dangerous slopes, which makes it much slower. And, at this moment, there is
road repair work that slows down the pace.
All this vehicular chaos and lack of service infrastructure in the bi-oceanic corridor contrasts with the beauty of the Andes mountains and the pure air of the mountain range.
S.C.