María Teresa Infante Caffi (Recoleta, September 21, 1950) is a

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 ...

an judge at the

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law ...

. She is a diplomat and previously served as Chile's

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Throughout her career she has held different positions at the national level and abroad. She was co-counsel of Chile before the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

(ICJ) of The

Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in the

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

-Chile case, National Director of Borders and Limits of Chile, and she was part of a group of 35 experts who advised Chile on lawsuit by

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

before the

ICJ The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

Biography

Infante is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

educated at the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. She obtained a doctorate at the

Graduate Institute of International Studies Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed hi ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

in 1979. She was a

tenured professor Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

at the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, and she also taught at the Diplomatic Academy. She was also director of the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile and has been a member of various

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

organizations. She was a promoter of the controversial 1998 agreement regarding the

Southern Patagonian Ice Field dispute The Southern Patagonian ice field dispute is a border dispute between Argentina and Chile over the delineation of the boundary line between the two countries on the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, a large expanse of glaciers located in the Patagon ...

which sought to redraw the boundary already defined 100 years ago by the surveyors of both countries, together with

José Miguel Insulza José Miguel Insulza Salinas (born June 2, 1943) is a Chilean politician, lawyer, and academic serving as a senator for the Arica y Parinacota Region since 2018. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1999 and Ministe ...

. In 2006, in the context of the controversy over the Argentine maps showing the border in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, she downplayed the issue and stated that it was due to an "outdated version," a position that remained unchanged over the years. Infante was in charge of Chile's legal and technical coordination in Peru's lawsuit for

maritime boundaries A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physical geography, physiographical or human geography, geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive sovereignty, national rights over mine ...

, filed on July 9, 2009, and co-representative of Chile before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in this Peru-Chile case. Infante served as National Director of Borders and Limits of Chile, as part of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. In 2020, she was elected as a judge of the

Publications

Books

* María Teresa Infante Caffi (2005). ''Modalidades de Integración en América Latina'',

París Paris () is the capital and largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the 30th most densely popul ...

: Association Andrés Bello des Juristes Franco-Latino-Américains. * María Teresa Infante Caffi, Rose Cave Schörh (1995). ''Solución judicial de controversias: el Derecho Internacional ante los tribunales internacionales e internos''. Instituto de Estudios Internacionales, Sociedad Chilena de Derecho Internacional.CV María Teresa Infante Caffi
loc.gov * María Teresa Infante Caffi, Sara Inés Pimentel Hunt, Rodrigo Díaz Albónico (1992(. ''El medio ambiente en la minería''. Instituto de Estudios Internacionales, Universidad de Chile.

Articles

Audiovisual Library of International Law of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Infante Caffi, María Teresa Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Academic staff of the University of Chile Ambassadors of Chile to the Netherlands Chilean women diplomats Chilean expatriates in Switzerland Chilean judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni University of Chile alumni