Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass, Mountain pass between Los Lagos Region and Patagonia, Chile and Argentina.
Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass is an asphalted mountain crossing through the southern Andes on the Chile-Argentina border, at 1,305 meters elevation. On the Chilean side it is reached by Route 215-CH, a branch of the Panamerican Highway from Osorno; on the Argentine side by Ruta Nacional 231. Nearby towns are Entre Lagos and Osorno in Chile and Villa La Angostura and San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina.
Originally called Paso Puyehue after Puyehue Lake, the crossing was renamed for Cardinal Antonio Samoré, who mediated the Beagle conflict between Chile and Argentina from 1978 to 1983. Argentina's Operation Soberanía, an invasion plan, envisaged the Third Army Corps under Luciano Benjamín Menéndez advancing through this pass to seize the Los Lagos Region.
The pass serves as a meeting point between Chilean and Argentine communities, allowing people from both sides to visit family, work, or trade regularly. It shapes how local residents move between the two nations in their daily lives.
The pass reaches 1,305 m, with maximum temperatures around 25 °C and minimums near -8 °C; most precipitation falls between May and September. Chilean formalities are handled by Customs, the PDI and the SAG, and Argentine ones by AFIP, Senasa, Migrations and Gendarmería. In summer up to 7,000 people have been counted crossing in a single day.
A 1974 treaty established this location as an official trade corridor between Chile's Los Lagos Region and Magallanes Region. This agreement shaped long-term economic ties across the border that remain active today.
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