Former Chilean Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ximena Fuentes defended her country's decision to exclude Israeli companies from participating in the Latin American Aviation and Space Expo. She said that "the mere presence of Israeli companies that manufacture weapons that caused the terrible humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip in Chile is unacceptable" Israel's ambassador to Chile, Gil Artziale, said that the Chilean government had not contacted him about the decision, and that he had been informed of the Chilean Ministry of Defense's announcement.