Thursday, March 18th 2010 - 21:26 UTC

Piñera’s first international visit Washington, next month

Chile’s new president Sebastián Piñera will make his first international visit next month when he attends the Nuclear Safety Summit in Washington, responding to an invitation from U.S. President Barack Obama.

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Because of the magnitude of the disaster the Chilean president planned visits to Brazil and Argentina will have to wait.

Before the earthquake struck Chile on Feb. 27, Piñera had intended to visit Brazil and Argentina following his inauguration. These trips, originally set for the end of March, have been postponed.

Even though Brazil had wanted to be the president’s first stop, high government sources say it has proved too difficult to prepare a state visit given Chile’s current earthquake emergency and Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s scheduled foreign travel.

Piñera received an invitation to the Nuclear Safety Summit on Feb. 2 when he and President Obama spoke on the phone for the first time.

Piñera hopes to arrange a bilateral meeting with Obama at the summit.

To be sure, Brazil and Argentina remain among Chile’s most important foreign policy concerns in Latin America, and Piñera will travel to both countries in the near future.

By Chastity Dillard- Santiago Times