Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein was absent at the celebration Pope Francis hosted on Monday at the Vatican for the 40th anniversary of the peace treaty signed by Argentina and Chile that ended the Beagle Channel Dispute.

Werthein explained that he decided not to attend the celebration due to “differences” and “unfortunate events” between the Argentine and Chilean delegations during the G20 summit last week in Brazil, although he didn’t give any further details about what happened.

The event took place on Monday morning at the Regal Room in the Vatican, where Pope Francis gave a speech highlighting the importance of the treaty in preventing the two countries from going to war. Although he didn’t mention the current ideological differences between the Chilean and Argentine governments, he said “dialogue must be the soul of the international community.”

Argentina was represented by the Argentine Ambassador to the Vatican Pablo Beltramino, while Chile sent its Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren.

In 2009, Argentina’s then-president Cristina Kirchner and her Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet both attended the 25th anniversary celebration Benedict XVI hosted at the Vatican.

The 1984 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Chile and Argentina ended the Beagle Conflict, a border dispute over a group of islands and their surrounding maritime jurisdiction in the utmost southern region of the two countries. In 1978, Chile and Argentina — both under military dictatorships at the time — were on the brink of war due to this conflict, but the Vatican’s mediation helped them reach a peace agreement that ended the dispute.

“I won’t go. We have a deep respect for the Pope and the Vatican, but unfortunately sometimes things happen in bilateral relations that complicate things,” Werthein said in an interview with TN news channel on Sunday night.

Werthein said that, during the summit, certain circumstances led him to decide not to attend the celebration personally. 

“We had a mishap, which I’d rather not delve into. They know what happened,” he added. 

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was a direct witness of the situation at the G20, according to Werthein.

The Argentine Foreign Minister added that he sent a letter to Pope Francis explaining the situation, and that he will visit him as soon as possible.

Werthein was part of the delegation that flew to Rio de Janeiro with President Javier Milei, alongside Secretary of the Presidency Karina Milei and Economy Minister Luis Caputo. While Chile is not a G20 member country, President Gabriel Boric was invited by Brazil’s Lula da Silva, who hosted the event.

Boric gave a speech that vehemently defended the national state’s role in the fight against poverty. It was a stark contrast to Milei’s position, who claimed that the key to end world hunger was to embrace the free market model and the existing inequality between individuals. Their speeches were not released to the public.

Werthein said on Sunday that despite their current differences, Argentina and Chile have “a very good relationship,” and that bilateral ties are “intact.”

“Sometimes, relationships between people can have certain setbacks, but [Chile] is still our dear neighbor, a fraternal country,” he said prior to the Vatican event.

Asked by the Herald, the Chilean Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Werthein’s statements.

“A clear act of contempt” 

A group of five former Argentine foreign ministers rejected Werthein’s absence, saying that it’s “incomprehensible” for a government to carry out “such gratuitous disrespect against one of the most transcendental events in our diplomacy in the last half century.”

The statement was signed by Rafael Bielsa (foreign minister between 2003-2005), Jorge Taiana (2003-2010), Susana Malcorra (2015-2017), Felipe Solá (2019-2021) and Santiago Cafiero (2021-2023). Malcorra was Argentina’s Foreign Minister during Mauricio Macri’s administration, while the rest held the position during Peronist governments.

They also called the government’s decision “a clear act of contempt against the papal diplomacy” that led to the signing of the treaty. 

“President Milei’s stark disdain for the most important Argentine diplomatic traditions puts decades of work and leadership at risk,” they wrote.

Chile is not the only country that appears to have had its differences with Milei during the G20. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he argued with Milei at the summit over the importance of joint efforts to guarantee progress for countries, which Petro defended in his speech. He added that the Argentine delegation has the video of Milei’s participation, but “hid it because they didn’t like what happened there.”