7. The Final Act

This chapter explores the path to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Argentina and Chile. It reveals the manner in which increasing contradictions in the Argentine handling of the crisis helped consolidate the Chilean team. The first section describes how the external agenda of Argentina turned out to be a real problem. The second section discusses how the South Atlantic war was a breaking point in the bilateral relations that catalyzed the path to cooperation. But this, however, did not guarantee a successful outcome. The war ended in June 1982 and the agreement was signed in October 1984. The chapter’s third section seeks to explain the effect of the transition on democracy in Argentina. After the Malvinas/Falklands War, the main goal of Alfonsín’s government was to guarantee a peaceful transition to democracy in Argentina. His plan was to reduce the power of the armed forces by diminishing their leverage on foreign policy decisions. Thus, a diplomatic resolution with Chile constituted a double triumph for Alfonsín’s government.