MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Piñera and Cristina committed to boost bilateral relations and integration

The presidents meet and exchange gifts at Casa Rosada

Chile and Argentina pledged Thursday to deepen bilateral relations with visiting president Sebastian Piñera saying that “the best of our relationship is yet to come” and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner anticipating that “ideological differences” won’t be an impediment to keep advancing in cooperation and joint projects.

Conservative and pro-business Piñera on his first official overseas since taking office March 11 visit participated with Mrs. Kirchner in a ceremony held at Government House Casa Rosada and during a speech promised to boost “commercial, cultural and economic integration” between the neighbouring countries.

“We have shared so much in the past, and I know that if we look into the future, there's a lot to come,” Piñera expressed.

Likewise, President Cristina Kirchner addressed the press as well and stated that they had gathered in order to “strengthen the regional integration process.”

“Countries with tired spirits only speak and remember the past and fear the future. On the other hand, countries with young spirits not only reaffirm their pasts but also have hope, and know that the best thing is to look ahead,” Pinera said. “The best of our bilateral relationship is ahead of us.”

”It seems so absurd to me that we spend thousands and thousands of millions of dollars in bridges and tunnels that bring us together, to encounter a customs process that separates us. The time we save using bridges and tunnels we lose waiting in line at the border”. The solution is not just more money said the Chilean president, but a change in attitude among officials in both countries.

Chilean delegates escorting Piñera are, among others, the First Lady Cecilia Morel de Piñera; Foreign Affairs Minister, Alfredo Moreno; Public Works Minister, Hernán De Solminihac and Culture and Arts Council head, Luciano Cruz Coke.

“Some believed that the fact a government of a political sign not similar to Argentina’s would be an impediment for relations. It’s absurd, I want to guarantee to all Argentines and all Chileans that nothing of the sort will ever happen”, underlined Mrs. Kirchner.

“The challenge for Latinamerica this century, and let’s hope Argentina and Chile pioneer it, is that we give a strong leap forward to leave behind poverty, exclusion under development. Let’s talk about how to find converging points to help us achieve these goals”, said Piñera.

The Chilean president reiterated several times his country’s gratitude for Argentina’s “fraternal, spontaneous and generous” aid provided following the February 27 devastating earthquake. Argentina sent field hospitals, food, medicines, electric generators, drinking water purifying plants and clothing.

In the joint declaration both presidents ratified the “Maipu integration and cooperation treaty from October 2009, complementary of the 1984 Peace and Friendship treaty, which will guide our bilateral relation in a process of greater integration”.

Piñera promised to be in Argentina on May 25th, for the bicentennial anniversary celebrations while Mrs. Kirchner said she would fly to Santiago de Chile on September 18th, Chile’s bicentennial.

Late Thursday Piñera left for his next visit Brazil and to meet President Lula da Silva. An important issue in the Brazilian agenda is a highway that would pass through Bolivia, linking Brazil's southern Mato Grosso do Sul state with Chile's northern port of Iquique.

If Brazil could truck its soybeans and other commodities to the Pacific Coast, it could reduce dramatically the cost of shipping its products to Asia and the US West Coast by avoiding lengthy trips around the continent's southern tip or through the Panama Canal.