Chilean President visits Argentina with gestures of unity on first trip abroad

the president of Chilethe leftist Gabriel Boricmakes his first trip abroad this Sunday with a visit to Argentina loaded with gestures of unity and in which he will sign agreements with his peer Alberto Fernández.

Boric travels to Buenos Aires with an important delegation: five of his ministers, including Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola and Defense Minister Maya Fernández, the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the president of the Supreme Court and six businessmen from important unions Chileans.

“The visit is not only protocol, President Boric makes a gesture and goes with an important delegation. It is the beginning of a work trip, so it is logical that he goes with more ministers, it is a sign of the importance he gives to the relationship with Argentina,” José Antonio Viera Gallo, who was Chile’s ambassador to Argentina, told AFP. Argentina between 2015 and 2018, under the second presidency of Michelle Bachelet.

Boric will meet privately with Fernandez on Monday at the Casa Rosada, who will later be joined by ministers from both countries to sign agreements on “culture, trade, human rights, energy, gender,” said a statement from the Chilean government.

Later he will meet with the leaders of the Argentine Congress and Supreme Court. The day will conclude with a concert.

On Tuesday, Boric will attend a meeting with some 50 businessmen from both countries, then he will meet with Buscarita Roa, the only Chilean who is part of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo movement, and finally with Chilean residents.

The gestures of unity are reciprocal: during Boric’s inauguration as president on March 11 in Congress in Valparaíso (center), the Argentine president arrived accompanied by a large retinue of ministers, legislators, governors of provinces bordering Chile, and even renowned artists such as Víctor Heredia and Pedro Aznar.

“We have a common view of many problems and we think alike,” Fernandez said on that occasion, who also highlighted the “great expectation” generated by the youth of Boric, 36, in the region.

– Feminist foreign policy –

The Chilean ambassador to Buenos Aires, the psychologist and philosophy professor Bárbara Figueroa, former union leader of the Communist Party, who was the first woman to preside over the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT), the main trade union center, will make her debut on this trip. of the country. Figueroa’s appointment raised controversy, especially among businessmen and the right-wing opposition, who criticized his lack of diplomatic and political experience to occupy such a strategic position as Argentina.

Meanwhile, Boric was accused of improvising and appointing ambassadors as “consolation prizes” for leftist politicians who were not appointed to public office.

For former ambassador Viera Gallo, “a gender vision is prevailing in Chile’s foreign policy and there has been a lot of talk about feminist foreign policy and one of the elements of that foreign policy is the appointment of female ambassadors.”

“President Boric and Minister Urrejola will have decided that an emblematic place for Chile is Argentina and they have appointed a significant political union leader,” he added.

Despite the criticism, Boric made official the appointment of this brave 42-year-old trade unionist, who on Thursday presented her credentials to Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero.

“There is no doubt that the Peronist trade union movement is very strong, and Ambassador Figueroa knows them well for their work in the international field of the CUT and if they have a relevant role in the internal politics of Argentina, it is also effective” her appointment, Viera Gallo added.

– Borders, investment and gas –

President Boric said that this trip to Argentina should not only be “symbolic” but also translated into “concrete collaborations”, such as facilitating the crossing of common borders and bilateral investments, he said in a meeting with the foreign press in Chile held at mid March.

Another relevant issue for the bilateral relationship is the export of Argentine natural gas to Chile, even more so when the Argentine government approved the sale of 4.23 million cubic meters of gas per day to Chile between January and April, which are added to the 6 million cubic meters per day of firm exports already previously authorized.

“The capacity that Argentina has or retains to sell natural gas to Chile is very important to us,” Viera Gallo said.

Source: Elcomercio

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