From Chilean Patagonia, burdened with the environmental damage of its own salmon farming industry, the recent decision of the Tierra del Fuego Legislature is viewed with deep concern and indignation.

The modification of the law that prohibited salmon farming in the Beagle Channel is interpreted as the voluntary importation of a disaster model that they know all too well .

The Protected Areas Without Salmon Farms campaign described the event as a "historic setback," ironically commenting on a supposed "modernization" that actually dismisses the absolute ban to welcome an ambiguous concept of "sustainable aquaculture."

This shift, attributed to the government of Javier Milei and Governor Gustavo Melella , is seen as "the environmental chainsaw finally reaching the end of the world," a surrender to corporations that prioritizes foreign investment of dubious local benefit over the integrity of the Patagonian ecosystem.

The repercussions in Chile are fueled by its own experience and by solidarity with other countries . Organizations like Defendamos Patagonia denounce a “serious environmental setback” that “prioritizes foreign economic interests over the environment and the popular will,” betraying the citizen consensus achieved in 2021.

The criticisms are specific and stem from bitter experience: they warn about "giant cages" with salmon "doped with antibiotics" , "seabeds turned into sewers" and massive escapes that would devour native biodiversity.

It is well known in southern Chile that this model generates precarious jobs and irreversible damage, also affecting sustainable activities such as tourism and artisanal fishing. Therefore, the support for the Tierra del Fuego community is visceral: “We regret the decision and wholeheartedly support the community and organizations that defend the sea and Patagonia in the neighboring country,” they stated.

Political analysis has not gone unnoticed either . From Chile, this approval is linked to the recent rapprochement between President Milei and the Chilean president-elect, the also right-wing José Antonio Kast, whose symbolic encounter with a chainsaw is interpreted as an ominous ideological alignment that jeopardizes environmental laws throughout Patagonia .

The rhetorical question posed by Chilean activists sums up the feeling of mourning and warning: “Who needs a pristine Beagle Channel when we can have Chilean disaster 2.0?”

It is the cry of alarm from someone who has already seen the film and knows its tragic ending, a call to resistance that today transcends borders: “Let's defend Tierra del Fuego! Let's defend Patagonia!”

The outrage is not merely a distant feeling. It is the voice of a painful experience that refuses to see repeated.