In 1978, an Argentine diplomat proposed a method of defusing a territorial dispute that very nearly sparked off a war between Argentina and Chile, It,was an offer calculated to be rejected by Chile, and yet Chile’s immediate response was “Agreed” - a response so unthinkable to Argentina that within hours its military Junta revoked the power of the Foreign Minister and the President to sign the agreement it had just proposed. In December 1978, the countries were quickly moving towards a war that, if waged, would most likely have engulfed much of Latin America. The Vatican, however, intervened and brought peace between the parties.