[citation needed] In 1946 an aerial reconnaissance of the United States Air Force, ordered by the Chilean government, revealed that the lake emptied to the Atlantic shores.

[citation needed] The initially organized labour support for 1963 elected Argentine President Arturo Illia turned to antagonism during 1964, as secret plans for Juan Domingo Perón's return from exile took shape.

On 17 October Carabineros sent a platoon to the zone and built an outpost in the property of Juana Sepúlveda and later a six-man reconnaissance patrol was sent to a shelter 8 km farther south.

As the Chileans noted the encirclement, they called to negotiate, Argentine forces shot dead Lieutenant Hernán Merino and injured Sergeant Miguel Manríquez.

[citation needed] Major Torres, Manríquez and Meza were captured and brought, along with Merino's body, to the barracks of Regimiento N° 181 de Combate of the Argentine Army in Río Gallegos.

[citation needed] The Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gabriel Valdés, on 10 November 1965 called the killing of Merino "an unprecedented and unexcusable act in the history of our boundary disputes.

[citation needed] Michel Morris stated that Argentina had used threats and force to pursue its claims against Chile and Great Britain and that some of the hostile acts or armed incidents appear to have been caused by zealous local commanders.

[13] Gino Bianchetti Andrade thinks that the Argentine Gendarmerie made in this case a deliberated and planned use of violence in order to obtain control of the zone and political preponderance of the force.