On 29 November 1984, in Vatican City, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the Republic of Chile and the Argentine Republic was signed. The plenipotentiaries were Jaime del Valle Alliende, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Chile, and Dante Mario Caputo, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Worship of Argentina. Cardinal Agostino Casaroli attested the signatures. The authentic text is Spanish; six identical copies, two of which remain with the Holy See. It is not the Boundary Treaty of 1881 and not the 1977 arbitral award on the Beagle Channel.

The preamble recalls the Act of Montevideo of 8 January 1979, by which the two Governments asked the Holy See to mediate the dispute in the southern zone, the Boundary Treaty of 1881 as the unshakeable foundation of their relations, and the Mediator's Proposal of 12 December 1980. Article 1: perpetual friendship and periodic consultations. Article 2: no threat or use of force, and settlement exclusively by peaceful means. Articles 3 to 6: direct negotiations; if within four months of an invitation they do not agree on another means, conciliation under Annex 1, Chapter I; if conciliation fails, arbitration under Chapter II.

Article 7: the boundary between the respective sovereignties over the sea, seabed and subsoil in the sea of the southern zone, from the end of the existing boundary in the Beagle Channel (55°07.3' S, 66°25.0' W, point A), runs through points B, C, D, E and F (58°21.1' S, 67°16.0' W). The exclusive economic zones extend east of the line for Argentina and west for Chile. Article 8: between Cape Horn and the easternmost point of Isla de los Estados, the legal effects of the territorial sea shall be limited, in their mutual relations, to a strip of three marine miles from their respective base lines. Article 9: the area so delimited is called the Sea of the Southern Zone (Mar de la Zona Austral).

Article 10: at the eastern end of the Strait of Magellan, between Punta Dungeness and Cabo del Espíritu Santo, the boundary is the straight line joining the two markers; Argentine sovereignty to the east, Chilean to the west; it in no way alters article V of 1881, whereby the Strait is neutralized forever with free navigation for the flags of all nations; Argentina undertakes to maintain, at any time and in whatever circumstances, the right of ships of all flags to navigate expeditiously and without obstacles through its jurisdictional waters to and from the Strait. Article 11: mutual recognition of base lines.

Article 12: a permanent Bi-National Commission for economic co-operation and physical integration, established within six months of entry into force. Article 13: Chile grants Argentina the navigation facilities in Annex 2. Article 14: a complete and final settlement of the questions with which it deals. Article 15: Articles 1 to 6 apply in Antarctica; the other provisions shall not affect sovereignty, rights or boundaries in Antarctica. Article 16: the Treaty is placed under the moral protection of the Holy See. Article 18: ratification; it enters into force on the date of the exchange of instruments, at Vatican City, on 2 May 1985. Article 19: registration under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

It is not the Act of Montevideo of 1979 and not the papal Proposal of 12 December 1980, which the Treaty takes into account.

Image: Apostolic Palace, Vatican City; Wknight94, 26 April 2008; CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina. Treaty text: Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Chile and Argentina, Vatican City, 29 November 1984.