El Tratado del Antártico, posición de Chile como país puente

Abstract

This article explains the Antarctic Treaty, the system and the international regime that it has been sustaining since it was signed fifty years ago in Washington, USA, on September 1st, 1959. The challenges and purposes that it was called to meet during its time were overcome adequately. But today the Treaty faces new challenges, which are less political and more scientifical than before, derived from the climate change, the increasing touristic activity, the care for the environment and the security of the maritime and aerial navigation. Chile is a key actor in the Antarctic and in the system of the Antarctic Treaty, and it offers its potentialities, as a "bridge" country, being the closest to the continent, for the development of the Antarctic activities in general. In its international linkage in the matter, it acts under the frame of the Antarctic Treaty. Moreover, it develops concrete capabilities in relation with the greater and new demands that the Antarctic system will have to face, and it puts them at the disposal of the international community.