After meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric, the head of diplomacy of the United States, Antony Blinken, promised this Wednesday to work towards increase investments Americans in the Andean country regardless of the outcome of the constitutional process.
Boric described on Twitter as “an excellent conversation” the meeting he had with the US Secretary of State in La Moneda, the Chilean presidential seat, where they demonstrated harmony on the environment, trade and the situation in Venezuela.
In a subsequent press conference with Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola, Blinken said his government is “looking for ways to increase US investment” in the Latin American country.
Specially in the field of the green economysince Chile has shown “leadership” in the fight against the climate crisis.
Chance
The local press asked Blinken how the constitutional process that Chile is going through, which a month ago overwhelmingly rejected the proposal for a new constitution in a referendum, could influence investments in the country.
The secretary said that it is not up to him to comment on Chilean politics, because it is an issue that concerns only the Chilean people, and stressed that there are “enormous business and investment opportunities” in the country.
“The relationship is already strong in terms of trade and investment, but we are convinced that it can increase and become even stronger,” he summed up.
In this regard, the Chilean minister assured that her government is “working hard” to obtain investments from different countries, and cited as an example the trips of President Boric to Canada and the United States, as well as the negotiation for the renewal of the trade agreement with the European Union.
Urrejola assured that several countries have shown interest in “investing in renewable energy“in Chile and improve production chains.
“We have a very open investment program and we are on track,” he stressed.
Venezuela
Despite the ideological differences With Boric, a former student leader who became the youngest president in the country’s history in March, Washington welcomes its commitment to the environment and human rights.
Specifically, it celebrates Boric’s criticisms of the human rights violations committed by the governments of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.
Boric and Blinken discussed the Venezuelan issue during the meeting, where they both agreed to resume talks between the Maduro government and the opposition, which were interrupted last year in Mexico.
“This is what we want as a country and we are on the same line as the United States, other countries in the region and other European countries: that talks resume so that in 2024 there can be free and democratic elections in Venezuela”, said Urrejola.
Regarding the ideological differences between the United States and a large number of Latin American nations that have turned to the left in recent years, Blinken said that “the context of each country is different”.
But he pledged to work with all governments to “get results for the people.”
seen
The immigration issue, which worries the Joe Biden government over the record number of arrivals at the border, is one of the main issues of the tour that the Blinken have embarked on this week through Colombia, Chile and Peru.
Blinken thanked Chile for its efforts to welcome Haitian migrants.
Chile is also the only country in the region to have it a visa extension program which allows its citizens to travel for tourism or business to the United States without applying for a visa.
This program is under review, but Boric and Blinken did not discuss the matter at the meeting.
Urrejola, however, explained that both governments are working on it and are “very well” to extend the program.
“We want to keep it and our countries are working for it,” the secretary said in this regard.
Source: EFE
CB
Source: Clarin
