Bulgaria's Antarctic Expeditions to Escape from Chile

Residents and tourists protest in a street of Punta Arenas, capital city of the Chilean region of Magallanes, 14 January 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The two Bulgarian Antarctic Expeditions, one returning and one incoming, which were blocked in Chile for a week, are expected to be free soon.

Chile's government reached a deal on Wednesday, which ended the protests in the far south of the country over a hike in natural gas prices. The government to cut the increase to just 3%.

The previously proposed 17% increase had caused protests residents of the Magallanes region of Patagonia, who depend on cheap gas to cope with icy conditions.

As a result of the strikes, the Bulgarian expedition, which is returning from the Bulgarian Antarctica base on the Livingston Island was trapped in the city of Punta Arenas, while the Bulgarian expedition of scientists arriving to take over from them for the next few months in Antarctica was stranded on the Argentina-Chile border.

Depending on the whether conditions, the Bulgarian antarctic expeditions will their scheduled routes on Wednesday or within two days.

Besides the two Bulgarian expeditions, hundreds of tourists were trapped in the week of road protests.

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