Gabriel Boric’s trip to the pole, which his office called the first by a Latin American president, comes amid rising competition for influence in Antarctica.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric travelled to Antarctica’s South Pole on Friday, a place where no other Latin American president has set foot, according to the Chilean government.

Boric and a delegation of officials visited Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station which is a US research base. His office said that this was the first time a president from a Latin American nation had set

Chilean President Gabriel Boric has become the first leader in the Americas to visit the South Pole, his government confirmed.