MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula da Silva has a new declared admirer: Chile’s Piñera

Piñera said his model for Chile is opposite that of Chavez’ Venezuela

Conservative Sebastián Piñera, winner of Chile’s first presidential round last Sunday said his development model for Chile is on the lines of those applied by Brazil, Mexico and Peru, but distant from those under Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez or Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega.

“In the region we have two main models, one of them is headed by people such as Chavez in Venezuela, and the other leadership belongs to people such as Mexico’s Felipe Calderón, Lula da Silva in Brazil, Alan García in Peru and to a certain extent, Michelle Bachelet in Chile” indicated Piñera.

Definitively “I am convinced that the second model option is the best for Chile since it involves a working democracy, rule of the law, freedom of expression, rotation in office and with no caudillos in the political scenario”, insisted Piñera in an interview with the foreign press in Santiago.

However he pointed out he would not turn those model differences “into a cause for division and conflict in Latinamerica, we are well aware that relations must be most respectful, even with differences”.

On the other hand he supported the presence of US forces in Colombian military bases to help combat the drugs trade.

Last Sunday Piñera garnered 44% of the vote and will be running on January 17 against runner up and ruling coalition candidate, former president Eduardo Frei who managed 29%. The big prize to win in the run off is convincing followers of independent maverick (and dissident from the ruling coalition) Marco Enriquez Ominami who obtained a record 20% of votes.

As to the new Congress, in the Senate where 50% of seats were disputed, the ruling coalition regained the majority and now will have 19 of 38 benches. The conservative coalition of Piñera will retain 17 benches (two new seats and seven re-elected) while the remaining two seats belong to an independent and a former Socialist.

In the Lower House with 120 members, Concertacion which has been ruling the country for the last twenty years lost its majority having obtained 54 benches while Piñera and his conservative allies ensured 58 seats.