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Chile’s President Gabriel Boric has become the first leader in the Americas to visit the South Pole, after arriving at a US base there.<\/p>\n
The president said his visit to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station reaffirmed Chile’s own claim to sovereignty<\/a> over part of the Antarctic. <\/p>\n “This is a milestone for us,” Boric said in footage shown on Chilean television, before adding “it’s the first time a Chilean president has come to the South Pole and talked about Chile’s Antarctic mission”. <\/p>\n Boric travelled with a group of scientists and several cabinet members, including ministers for the armed forces and the environment, his office said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Boric said his visit underlined Chile’s determination to play a key role in scientific projects in the area, especially those involving climate change. <\/p>\n In a statement, the government said research centres, universities, diplomats and the armed forces had united to ensure that Chile becomes the world’s gateway to the Antarctic.<\/p>\n Leftist President Gabriel Boric won Chile’s presidential election in 2021<\/a> to become the country’s youngest ever leader, at 35 years of age.<\/p>\n Only two other world leaders had visited the South Pole before Boric: the prime ministers of New Zealand and Norway.<\/p>\n Several countries, including Chile, the UK, France, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, have laid claim to parts of Antarctica<\/a> and many more have a presence there.<\/p>\n Antarctica is not a country: it has no government and no indigenous population. Instead, the entire continent is set aside as a scientific preserve.<\/p>\n The Antarctic Treaty<\/a>, which came into force in 1961, enshrines an ideal of intellectual exchange.<\/p>\n The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is named after Roald Amundsen – the Norwegian explorer who led the first expedition to the South Pole<\/a> – and also Robert Scott, the UK explorer whom Amundsen beat to the pole in 1911.<\/p>\n Scott and four companions died on the return leg of their trek after being caught in a blizzard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n