MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chirac praises Chilean economic policies

French President Jacques Chirac wrapped up a two-day visit on Saturday by praising Chile's economic policies and riding a French-built subway with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

"You can be proud," Chirac told a gathering of business leaders in the Chilean capital of Santiago. "Your country has known how to establish its own guidelines to face modernization."

Chirac noted similarities between the economic and social policies of Chile and France, and said his government will continue to support Chile.

Chirac arrived from Brazil for talks with Bachelet and is the first French president to visit Chile since Charles de Gaulle in 1964. In a joint statement, the two presidents "reaffirmed their commitment to work together for a safer, more prosperous and more just world."

The talks came as the two countries appear close to a deal for Chile to purchase a French satellite for civilian and military use.

Defense Minister Vivianne Blanlot said earlier Saturday that negotiations were "well advanced" and a deal could be struck by mid-July. Some had expected an agreement to be announced during Chirac's visit.

Local media reported that Chile would pay 40 million US dollars for the satellite.

Blanlot, who met with her French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie, said Latin American nations have no reason for concern about the purchase, noting that countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Colombia already have their own satellites.

Santiago daily El Mercurio said Bachelet "will explain to neighboring countries that two-thirds of the satellite's use would be for civilian purposes."

Chirac also rode with Bachelet along a section of the Santiago subway that was built by a French consortium and inaugurated in February. The subway system in Santiago was started in the late sixties and was built with French technology following on Paris underground. The Santiago system now has 82 stations and transports every day 1.3 million passengers.

On Friday President Chirac in a joint press conference with Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet said the new leftist presidents in Latin America should not be a reason for concern because they were elected in free democratic elections.

"One cannot want democratic elections and then when one sees the results not accept them for one reason or another; there is a strong movement in favor of democracy in Latin America, a movement that is growing," Chirac said.

Further on he praised leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales, who has nationalized his country's gas industry. Chirac, who recently met Morales in Vienna, Austria, said when asked about the Bolivian leader: "I felt I had in front of me a man who has restored honor to a people who had lost it for centuries and centuries."

"Should he invite me to visit La Paz, I would go," Chirac said.

Chirac said Chile "has set an example of a democratic restoration achieved in a successful manner" since the end of the Pinochet regime in 1990.