Demonstrators gather in front of the Israeli embassy in Santiago denouncing the brutal aggression against Gaza (Reuters)
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, which is scheduled to be held later this month in the capital, Santiago.
Fuentes, who represents Chile before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, considered her country's decision "an outstanding moral decision," and 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."
Fuentes said in an article today, Thursday - in the Spanish newspaper "La Tercera" in Santiago - that "the Chilean government's decision is a reasonable decision, and is consistent with the traditional principle of our foreign policy of respecting human rights."
Chilean diplomacy also alerted to warnings from experts that the presence of Israeli companies in the exhibition "implies risks to the security of the exhibition itself, and encourages protest measures against these companies."
Arms supply
Fuentes touched on her country's military and economic relations with Israel, saying, "Israel possesses one of the strongest military industries in the world, and has been the main supplier to our armed forces for years. It is also participating in the implementation of the Chilean satellite system, which is necessary for full control of our lands."
"Similarly, Israeli companies provide services to Chilean banking, financial and logistics companies, highlighting the field of cybersecurity," in which Israel is at the forefront, she added.
This network of strategic interests becomes even more important in an international scenario where the major players are immersed in a new space race and have dramatically increased their defense spending, relentlessly searching for suppliers for both industries.
Fuentes concluded by saying that "Chile alone lacks the necessary tools to stop the catastrophe in Gaza, and the accumulation of signals and blame launched by the government against Israel could ultimately lead to harming our country," noting that Israel suspended its defense exports to Colombia because of its position on the war on Gaza.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric (center) previously denounced the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip (European)
It is noteworthy that the Chilean government announced - the day before yesterday, Tuesday - that it had decided to prevent Israeli companies from participating in the major aviation and space exhibition in Latin America. The Chilean Ministry of Defense did not explain the motives for the decision, but only provided notice to remove Israel from the defense exhibition.
On the other hand, 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, adding that "it is difficult to say that we were surprised by the Chilean government's doctrine toward Israel."
It is worth noting that the government of President Gabriel Boric criticized the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and the Israeli violations in the West Bank after the Al-Aqsa flood on October 7th.
Although his government condemned the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), it considered the Israeli war on Gaza a “disproportionate” response.
Chile - which has the largest number of Palestinians outside the Arab world - recalled its ambassador to Israel late last October, to protest the unacceptable Israeli violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Last January, Mexico and Chile joined calls for the International Criminal Court to conduct an investigation into committing war crimes and genocide in the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies