The geopolitical landscape in the far south has entered a phase of open militarization . Just hours after publicly justifying the opening of the maritime trade corridor with the Malvina Islands and describing the United Kingdom as a "friendly country" that exercises de facto sovereignty over the archipelago, Chile's Minister of National Defense, Fernando Barros Tocornal , led a ceremony at the Chabunco Air Base in Punta Arenas to announce an ambitious military re-equipment plan: the construction of new military bases in Magallanes and an investment that will almost double the funds allocated to the military sector by 2027 .

Surrounded by the commanders-in-chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force (FACh), the Minister of Defense made clear Santiago's response to recent statements by Argentine officials regarding the bi-oceanic passages and the Antarctic projection: "National defense is not improvised, it is planned and built years in advance with a state vision" and "sovereignty is not only declared, it is exercised," Barros declared to justify an investment directive with a horizon towards 2043 .

From Chabunco to Antarctica: The map of the military deployment

The plan presented in Magallanes is not limited to a budget announcement. It consists of a fundamental operational restructuring designed to consolidate control over the Strait of Magellan, the Fuegian channels, and the polar projection.

To safeguard these purchases, the minister confirmed that the general 3% cut that the Executive of José Antonio Kast had ordered to the public administration was cancelled, allocating resources to strategic capabilities that will far exceed the 2.4 billion dollars assigned in the current fiscal year.

The doctrine of containment towards Buenos Aires

The deployment in Magallanes coincides with a parade of authorities in Punta Arenas —including visits from the president of the Senate, Paulina Núñez, and legislators from various blocs— following the controversies sparked by statements from Argentine military commanders and diplomats regarding the country's bioceanic status and the Eastern Mouth of the Strait.

However, behind the discourse of nationalist sovereignty that the Chilean right stirs up, a blatant contradiction is taking shape:

1.   Rearmament in the face of Argentina: Santiago displays its war purchases and increases its military presence to "confront geopolitical threats" over the Strait of Magellan, maintaining the rhetoric of a potential conflict with our country.

2.   Open doors to the colonial occupier: At the same time as it builds new naval and air bases opposite Tierra del Fuego, the Chilean government is enabling, through Punta Arenas, the logistical corridor that will feed the British usurpation in the Malvina Islands and the Sea Lion oil project, with the landing of 40 colonial businessmen from the FIDC scheduled for this week and the first voyage of the Easter Island shipping company in November.

The doubling of Chilean military spending and the establishment of new bases in the Strait complete the strategic pincer movement in the South Atlantic. While Argentina debates the scope of the demands made by the CECIM La Plata and seeks to reactivate its Integrated Naval Base in Ushuaia, Chile is accelerating its rearmament with Washington's support and deepening its practical alliance with the British Crown. In the southern waters, there is no room for diplomatic naiveté: while peace declarations are signed in palaces, colonial vessels and combat bases are multiplying at the mouths of our channels.