Chilean Foreign Minister calls the Argentine ambassador “crazy”, who criticized Chile’s decision on a project for its environmental impact

An audio in which the Chilean chancellor Antonia Urrejola calls the ambassador of Argentina “crazy” Rafael Bielsagenerated controversy in the country on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Chilean Foreign Ministry on Tuesday recognized the “private meeting audio leaked by mistake”, where Urrejola refers in harsh terms about the Argentine diplomat.

Bielsa criticized the decision of the government of the leftist Gabriel Boric to reject the construction of the “Dominga” mining and port project, due to its environmental impact.

“He does what he wants when he feels like it, and the explanation is that he’s crazy”, the Chilean foreign minister is heard saying in the recording, who also sent the Argentine foreign minister, Santiago Cafiero, a complaint about this case.

“The subject of the Dominga project was a unanimous decision of the council of ministers. Your ambassador directly attacks the government of President Boric on a very sensitive political issue. It is honestly unacceptable. A few days after we go to the CELAC (summit) in Argentina,” Urrejola said in a message to Cafiero.

The leak of the recording, a private conversation between the chancellor and her work team, led to the dismissal of the press officer of the Chilean Foreign Ministry, and a wave of criticism from politicians from all political sectorswho criticized the untidyness and the informal tone of the conversation, in which various rude words slipped through.

According to the statement from the Foreign Ministry, “the situation that motivated the aforementioned conversation has already been overcome and does not represent at all the excellent bilateral relationship between Argentina and Chile”.

The annoyance of the Chilean authorities dates from last week, when Ambassador Bielsa was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to talk about his criticism of “Dominga.”

“Five species of animals woke up jumping today because they are not going to disappear”, said Bielsa in an ironic tone after the decision of the Boric government to reject the project due to the environmental damage it would cause in a rich maritime and coastal reserve in the north of the country.

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The ambassador added that a project like “Dominga” could serve for the shipment of truck cargo from Argentina, through the Agua Negra mountain range crossing. (YO)