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News > Chile

Gabriel Boric Declines Pinera’s Invitation to Colombia Summit

  • The president-elect, Gabriel Boric

    The president-elect, Gabriel Boric | Photo: EFE

Published 27 December 2021
Opinion

The president-elect of Chile stated that his rejection does not constitute a snub and that he will prioritize building his government team.

The president-elect of Chile, Gabriel Boric, declined on Monday the invitation of the current President of the nation, Sebastián Piñera, to attend an international summit that will take place between January 26 and 27, 2022 in Colombia.

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The future tenant of La Moneda said that his priority is to put together his team for the future government. However, he asserted that he would make available the future authorities of international relations.

"We have made available to those who will be the future authorities in international relations to make all the necessary arrangements so that this is not understood, in any case, as a snub from the State," he said.

The outgoing head of state invited Boric to two international events that include a visit to Colombia, to the Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America (Prosur), and the Pacific Alliance.

In this respect, he expressed that "we will give priority to the Pacific Alliance in the future. I have already spoken with several presidents, especially Manuel López Obrador, from Mexico; Iván Duque, from Colombia; and we have also contacted the Peruvian Foreign Ministry".

Concerning Prosur, he stated that "it seems to us that it is an agenda of President Piñera's own, which is his legitimate right. When it is our turn to assume, we will develop our regional agenda, based on collaboration perspectives for the tremendous challenges we have at regional and world level".

Among the most important topics, he mentioned the fight against the pandemic, the climate crisis, the migratory conflict, economic cooperation, and the strengthening of democracy.

Boric stressed that his decision not to attend was initially communicated to the President himself because "in matters of State policies we must be careful not to enter into debates that could damage the country's image."

In this sense, he indicated that these matters are best discussed in person and not through the press and commented that he asked the Chief Executive to safeguard the subject in the future.

For his part, Piñera, according to Boric, said that he perfectly understood his successor's position and expressed his willingness to ensure that the transition and the handover of power are carried out in the best possible way.

He also insisted that the current government's international agenda was not the best. However, in other initiatives such as the Pacific Alliance, Boric showed interest in strengthening that relationship and promoting his own regional agenda.

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