MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru has adopted the “positive sides” of the Chilean model

President Alan García confident that Peru is en route to out better Chile

President Alan García said that Peru had adopted the “positive sides” of the Chilean model and insisted that Peru will “not adopt a retaliatory or a diminished attitude towards Chile; we simply want to be better than them”.

“We have noticed that in Chile democracy, plus good politics in the hands of parties and investment have had a formidable result in helping reduce poverty. We’ve looked at the good examples such as not being scared of foreign investments or concessions”, pointed out García in a Sunday interview with Santiago’s daily La Tercera.

“What really moved us to adopt the Chilean model, in its positive aspects, was the verification that the Chilean political establishment had learnt that the best path is that of stability”.

And “our goal is to better the achievements of our Chilean neighbour”.

“Peru can’t adopt a retaliatory or a diminished attitude towards Chile. I’m certain that the Peruvian people know how to distribute in different baskets problems and emotions from the past, those current legal litigations we hope to solve and a coordinated development for the future”, said the Peruvian leader.

Garacia said that quite soon the Peruvian port of Callao will be far more important than Chile’s Valparaíso, “but this is simply democratic and intelligent competition”.

Which, he said “is quite different from buying tanks, frigates or F16 fighter bombers; actually many people believe that Chile is involved in an arms race”.

“We would have liked to sit round a table and in spite of the litigation in The Hague, honestly say I have this, you have that, let’s stop it here”, but this was not the case.

Peru has criticized recent arms acquisitions by Chile and has questioned the 10% from copper sales by the government owned Codelco, which by law, must be invested in defence in the purchase of new or refurbished equipment.

Peru in 2008 presented a demand before the International Court of The Hague claiming 67.000 square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean which currently are under Chilean jurisdiction.

“It’s only natural that The Hague demand should inspire some kind of resentment, but Chile must understand there was no other way but The Hague. To advance, to build the future we must close issues pending from the past”, said the Peruvian president.

When the Pacific war of 1879/80, Peru and Bolivia engaged Chile and after a couple of years, Chilean forces marched to Lima where they remained for some time.

As a consequence of the conflict, Bolivia lost its sea outlet and Peru the most southern province and its Pacific coastline. Since then the two neighbouring countries have been most suspicious of each other and the Armed Forces extremely jealous of their standings.