Former Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie is the protagonist of a serious diplomatic scandal in Chile, where he is currently assigned as ambassador of the Argentine Republic.
Official reports, prepared by officials of Gabriel Boric's government, published in the trans-Andean press this Friday,
accuse him of mistreating representatives of that country
and of making threats with the supply of gas in a bilateral meeting on border issues.
“My country (Argentina) was already an agricultural power while you were just learning to eat,”
they claim that Faurie shouted at them at the meeting in which, according to the
El Mostrado
site , diplomats from the Chilean embassy in Buenos Aires were present, and from the Chilean Consulate in Mendoza plus
the provincial presidential delegate of Los Andes, Cristian Aravena Reyes
, whom according to the records, the Argentine ambassador did not recognize and therefore “mistreated.”
Clarín
has known about the existence of this episode for two weeks, but in Buenos Aires they denied it.
Even more so this Friday, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino's team asked to speak directly with Faurie who told this newspaper that he
does not record the existence of a "diplomatic incident"
, and that the facts reported in the neighboring press seem "exaggerated" ".
As she told the neighboring press, she also told this newspaper that she "did not remember" those dialogues in the way they were told.
In Chile there is a high sensitivity to any elevated tone and they remember that the now former ambassador of Alberto Fernández in Chile, Rafael Bielsa, ended up fighting with all political sectors in that country - on the right and left - as a result of his repeated interference in the neighboring politics.
Now it was Faurie's turn.
And although the episode was already talked about two weeks ago, it was only made public this Friday because everyone denied it, but now the stories of the protagonists have come to light, in El Mostrador.
According to this site, those involved asked La Moneda and Alberto Van Klaveren's Foreign Ministry
to "adopt measures"
against the Argentine ambassador.
Faurie is an influential man in the diplomacy of the current government.
He organized the presidential transfer of Javier Milei and Diana Mondino in their initial formation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.
What he says about the poor functioning of the border crossings is true, and his claim is genuine. His weakness is that he has a bad character.
And
Clarín
knows from senior officials and Argentines that there is
immense concern
about the future of the relationship.
In the case of Javier Milei and Gabriel Boric, they did not even speak on the phone.
They only greeted each other the day the Chilean came to the libertarian's inauguration.
What are they accusing him of?
According to El Mostrador, on March 15, Faurie and the Chilean delegation attended a
meeting at the Cristo Redentor International Pass, in Uspallata, on the Mendoza side - it is also called Los Libertadores Pass.
He reported that they took a tour of the so-called Integrated Control Area (ACI) in which Customs and Immigration controls are carried out on both sides.
And in which the Argentine SENASA and the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) of Chile act to learn more about the operation of the so-called Cristo Redentor Integrated System (SICR), between Argentina and Chile.
These meetings, which are usually periodic, but which have been unsuccessful for years, seek to modernize the exchange and solve it.
problems, which increase in the winter, with accidents, environmental problems or any unforeseen event.
The day before they were in Mendoza together
the ambassador of the government of Gabriel Boric in Argentina, José Antonio Viera-Gallo, counselor Francisca Montealegre, second authority of the Chilean diplomatic headquarters;
and the Chilean consul in Mendoza, David Quiroga Hinojosa.
But for health reasons, Viera Gallo waited for them in Mendoza and did not go along.
According to the reports published by El Mostrador, Faurie would have had a first
“disrespectful”, “offensive” attitude,
because first, upon entering, he was with the provincial presidential delegate of Los Andes, Cristian Aravena, the representative of the Directorate of Borders and Limits ( Difrol), Pedro Pablo Silva, and other Chilean authorities at the meeting of the Integrated Control Area (ACI)
only shook hands with two of the officials and ignored the presidential delegate.
“When the time came to meet in Uspallata, at the ACI Argentina venue, the Argentine Ambassador entered the meeting room shaking hands with only some of those who were present there, he did not greet the Presidential Delegate of Los Andes,” he points out. the official letter of the presidential delegate, dated March 18, and sent to the head of the Interior Government Division, who is the socialist Enrique Inostroza.
This last official reports to the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, Boric's trusted man.
“Once the intervention of those who had been the subject of consultations had finished, the Ambassador asked 'if anyone from Chile wanted to say something' (sic).
Of course, I spoke in my capacity as Provincial Presidential Delegate of Los Andes, making known my position and representation, giving the corresponding greetings, thanking the Ambassador for his visit, at which time he (by Faurie) imprudently interrupted saying '
the The Chilean State usually creates figures of representation, especially this one of Delegate, what is that, what is a delegate? Our Government does not recognize such a position and does not attribute any importance or validity to it,'”
states the aforementioned report. by El Mostrador.
Always following the Chilean publication, there was a new meeting, but at the Los Libertadores Complex, on the Chilean side, and it would have been
even more tense
.
El Mostrador says that according to the Chilean officials' report, Faurie
"became upset to the point of raising his tone of voice in an exacerbated manner and, even more so, banging on the table,
rebuking the representative of the Directorate of Borders and Limits of Chile. Pedro Pablo Silva, stated that
'he had years of experience and they were not going to tell him stories'
, the latter because he did not like being told that regarding SAG's exhaustive reviews, these could not be ignored with the aim of giving more fluidity to the passage, reducing waiting times, since these were clearly established as well as their procedures.
Given these circumstances and discussions, the meeting was terminated.”
In another document is where, El Mostrador indicates that in five points, the Consul General of Chile in Mendoza, Minister Counselor David Quiroga, alerted the Directorate of Borders and Limits (Difrol), headed by lawyer Carlos Dettleff, as a complaint. , with a copy to the Chilean ambassador in Buenos Aires, Viera-Gallo, that the tour to the Chilean-Argentine border complexes was “frustrated”, because the former chancellor
“evidence unfriendly and disrespectful attitudes”
towards President Boric's delegate in Los Andes , towards other officials including those of Chilean public services.
“In the Los Libertadores complex and in response to the explanation given to him regarding SAG controls and the food profile of our country,
Mr. Faurie raised his voice stating that 'I am not going to accept you saying that, since 'My country was already an agricultural power while you were just learning to eat
. '
It is highly frustrating that at the meeting there was no decent willingness on the part of the counterpart to investigate precise details about the current needs of the SICR.
The aforementioned insult was not the only one, and actions such as the one described rather slow down consensus and hinder progress in this sensitive matter,” states Consul Quiroga's letter.
The Chilean diplomat told his Foreign Ministry that the SICR “requires technical and substantive capacity to currently deal with an important chapter of the border relationship” and also expressed that he would hope “that this type of situation is not repeated in the future.” ”.
Subsequently, there were very serious reports this week that reached the palace of the Chilean Government, La Moneda, reporting the incidents to the Foreign Ministry, which went around all the offices involved mentioning “the unrest” generated in the national delegation, and asking
“ relevant diplomatic measures.”