Mediator
By the beginning of November 1978, Chile and Argentina no longer had any mechanism for working toward a peaceful settlement and the situation began to destabilize rapidly. It was at this point, with direct talks dead and a judicial settlement refused by Argentina, that Chile suggested mediation. Argentina accepted the proposal and the two foreign ministers agreed to meet in Buenos Aires on December 12 for the purpose of selecting a mediator and the terms of mediation. Possible candidates were
- Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America
- the Organization of American States,
- Juan Carlos I of Spain, King of Spain
- a European president
- Pope John Paul II
The ministers concurred on the issue that the Pope should mediate the dispute, but their agreement proved ephemeral. In the evening, as the Chilean delegation was studying the documents for signature, the Argentine minister called the Chilean minister Cubillos to tell him that President Videla, who had approved their choice of mediator, had been stripped of his authority by the junta.
On 22 December 1978, Argentina launched Operation Soberania to occupy the islands militarily. On the morning of December 22, Pope John Paul II, on his own initiative, contacted both governments directly to communicate that he was sending a personal envoy to Buenos Aires and Santiago.
- Mediator and the heads of state
-
Raúl Alfonsín Argentine Head of State
-
Pope John Paul II mediator between Chile and Argentina
-
Augusto Pinochet Chilean Head of State
Read more about this topic: Papal Mediation In The Beagle Conflict
Famous quotes containing the word mediator:
“Their errors have been weighed and found to have been dust in the balance; if their sins were as scarlet, they are now white as snow: they have been washed in the blood of the mediator and the redeemer, Time.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“Dare to love God without mediator or veil.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He is the mediator in that only sense in which possibly any being can mediate between God and man,—that is, an instructor of man. He teaches us how to become like God.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)