chille moves to extend antarctic land claims
25 October 2007

Chille plans to reopen a naval base in Antarctica, placing it on a potential collision course with Britain.

The dilapidated Arturo Prat base on Greenwich Island, which was closed five years ago in a budget cutback, will be reopened early next year, the Chillean government has said. Senator Roberto Muņoz Barra said that the plan had the backing of all his country's armed forces.  The news comes a week after Britain announced plans to extend its own claims on the icy continent by a further 386,000 sq miles.

In what some experts are describing as the last big carve-up of territory in history, all nations claiming a part of Antarctica must outline their case before the United Nations by May 13, 2009.
Currently, five-sixths of the Antarctic continent is claimed by seven countries and most of the existing British stake is also claimed by either Argentina or Chille.

Argentina has signalled its intention to make a claim, which is expected to include territory surrounding the British-owned Falkland Islands.  Antarctica is thought to hold vast riches, ranging from oil and gas to sea-bed marine organisms.  However, all claims to the territory are theoretical because it is protected by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which prevents mineral exploitation of the continent except for scientific research.

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