Chile: President Gabriel Boric excludes Israel from the 2024 International Air Show without explanation

The Chilean Ministry of Defense announced its decision to exclude Israeli companies from the International Air and Space Fair (Fidae) 2024, considered the most important aerospace and defense event in Latin America.

The event, which will be held from April 9-14 and brings together exhibitors from more than 40 countries, will no longer include the exhibition of Israeli arsenal and technology per the decision of Gabriel Boric's government, according to the statement published on social networks.

Although the communiqué does not specify the reasons for the decision to exclude Israel from the event, the measure is in line with the position that Chile has taken on the war between the Jewish State and Hamas.

It should be recalled that Boric has repeatedly condemned the way in which the Middle Eastern country has responded to the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7.

In the past, Boric called for a consultation with the Chilean ambassador to Israel, José Carvajal, and condemned what he considered to be "unacceptable violations of International Humanitarian Law" on the part of the Jewish state.

"Chile strongly condemns and observes with great concern that these military operations (...) do not respect fundamental norms of International Law, as demonstrated by the more than eight thousand civilian victims, mostly women and children," Boric expressed through social networks.

Earlier this year, Chile also submitted a joint referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC), requesting an investigation into "all war crimes" that may have been committed in Israel and Palestine.

Chile excluded Russia

This is not the first time Chile has opted to limit the participation of certain countries in the fair. In March 2022, the Chilean president also announced the exclusion of Russian companies due to the invasion of Ukrainian territory.