After heavy snowfall, Argentina-Chile reopens mountain border

This week, the main mountain border crossing separating Chile and Argentina reopened after being closed for approximately two weeks due to significant snowfall in the Andes, which left thousands of trucks stranded.

Since the pass was reopened on Wednesday, the backed-up cars have been slowly making their way along the winding “Los Libertadores” route. The wait for some of the drivers had been days.

The lengthy waits caused a great deal of driving rage.

“We are tired of complaining a thousand times, but the government and agencies, both on the Argentinean and Chilean sides, are not worried about fixing the infrastructure,” said Angel, a 42-year-old bus driver.

The majority of Chile and areas of northwest Argentina are expected to see severe weather through at least July 12. Parts of Chile are likely to see severe winds, heavy rains, snowfall, and thunderstorms, while nearby areas of Argentina are predicted to experience snowfall and strong winds. As of early July 11, certain places are experiencing interruptions due to the bad weather.

Near the Los Libertadores Border Complex between Chile and Argentina in the Andes, hundreds of people needed to be rescued and put up in temporary housing on July 9. The border crossing was still closed on July 10 and would reopen as soon as the situation becomes better. On July 9 and 10, an active weather front delivered snow, sleet, and heavy rain to various regions of Chile, resulting in flooding, power outages, and transportation delays. More than 24,000 individuals nationwide were still without electricity as of July 10. Heavy snowfall in Chile left more than 6,000 people stuck. The majority of these were in La Araucania Region and the Alto Biobio Commune in the Biobio Region.