Chile’s president Gabriel Boric has made a historic trip to the south pole to reaffirm his country’s “claim to sovereignty” over its part of Antarctica, his office said.
Boric is the first Latin American leader to reach the Earth’s southernmost point, according to his office.
“This is a milestone for us,” Boric said, in footage broadcast by Chilean television.
“It is the first time a Chilean president has come to the south pole and talked about Chile’s Antarctic mission.”
Boric, accompanied by his defence and environment ministers, as well as three military commanders, arrived at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, a US research base, at 8pm GMT, his office said.
The Chilean leader planned to spend about two hours at the US outpost, in one of the planet’s most remote and hostile zones.
The trip “is a confirmation of our claim to sovereignty” over part of Antarctica, he said.
During the 20th century, countries such as Chile, France, the US, Britain, Argentina and Japan set up research stations in Antarctica, for scientific research and to establish a presence in the forbidding region.
Since 1961, activities in the region have been governed by the Antarctic Treaty, which seeks to shield the continent and its surrounding seas from geopolitical rivalries.
The US state department says seven countries including Chile maintain territorial claims in Antarctica, but “the United States and most other countries do not recognise those claims”.
Boric began his voyage early in the day from Punta Arenas, in southern Chile, reaching Chile’s research station on the Union Glacier in Antarctica, aboard a Hercules C-130 military transport plane.
Boric’s visit comes “at an important moment for Chile’s scientific endeavours in the region”, his office said.
In the past, Chile has concentrated its research in the northern part of Antarctica, but the South American country is hoping to expand its efforts to the Bellingshausen and Weddell Seas, according to the statement from the presidency.
In 2007, then New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark made the trip to the south pole, followed in 2011 by former Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg was commemorating the 100th anniversary of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen’s voyage in December 1911.
