Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass () is one of the main

mountain passes A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migration throughout history ...

through the southern

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

along the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Together with Paso Libertadores, it is one of the easiest of the Argentina-Chile passes, and one of the few with asphalted roads in the region. The main towns and cities respectively on both sides of the pass are Entre Lagos and Osorno in Chile and

Villa La Angostura Villa La Angostura (Spanish for ''Town of the Narrowing'') is a town located in the Los Lagos Department in the south of the Argentine province of Neuquén, on the northwest shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake. Nestled in the northern part of the Na ...

and

San Carlos de Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche (from the Mapuche name ''Vuriloche'', meaning "people from the other side of the mountain"), commonly known simply as Bariloche (), is the largest city in the Argentine province of Río Negro and the seat of the departm ...

in Argentina. From the Chilean side the pass is accessed through Route 215-CH, branch line which begins at the

Panamerican Highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

in Osorno. On the Argentine side the pass is reached by Ruta Nacional 231. Since 1974 there is a treaty that guarantee the transport of Chilean goods from the Chilean X

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...

to the XII

Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region () or Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctica Region in English, is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and sec ...

over the Paso Samoré through the Argentine Patagonia.Articl
Disputa con Chile por la reapertura del paso Samoré
in the Argentine newspaper "La Nación on 4. August 2011, retrieved on 4. August 2011 Chile

Climate

History

It is named after Cardinal

Antonio Samorè Antonio Samorè (4 December 1905 – 3 February 1983) was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Catholic Church. Biography Samorè was born in Bardi, near Parma. After studying at the seminary in Piacenza and the Pontifical Lateran Unive ...

, who mediated in the

Beagle conflict The Beagle conflict was a border dispute between Chile and Argentina over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war ...

between Chile and Argentina from 1978 to 1983.

Operation Soberanía Operación Soberanía (Operation Sovereignty) was a planned Argentine military invasion of territory disputed with Chile, and ultimately possibly of Chile itself, due to the Beagle conflict. The invasion was initiated on 22 December 1978 but was h ...

, the Argentine invasion plan, considered an offensive of the Third Army Corps under command of

Luciano Benjamín Menéndez Luciano Benjamín Menéndez (19 June 1927 – 27 February 2018) was an Argentine general and convicted human rights violator and murderer. Commander of the Third Army Corps (1975–79), he played a prominent role in the murders of social activi ...

through Samoré Pass to seize

. Before it was renamed, it was known as ''Paso Puyehue'' after

Puyehue Lake Puyehue Lake (), (Mapudungun: ''puye'', "small fish" and ''hue'', "place") is an Andean piedmont lake on the border of Los Lagos Region with Los Ríos Region of Chile. Puyehue is a lake of glacial origin. Several times during the Pleistocene gl ...

References

Mountain passes of Chile Mountain passes of Argentina Mountain passes of the Andes Landforms of Los Lagos Region Landforms of Neuquén Province Argentina–Chile border crossings Transport in Los Lagos Region Nahuel Huapi National Park {{Neuquén-geo-stub