MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Piñera and CFK agree to reprogram the Argentine leaders’ official visit to Chile

Piñera wished CFK “a good and fast” recovery

Chilean president Sebastián Piñera and his Argentine peer Cristina Fernandez agreed to reprogram her visit to Santiago scheduled for the last week of January following the announcement that the Argentine leader will undergo thyroid cancer surgery next January 4.

Piñera confirmed the news during a visit on Wednesday to Valdivia after revealing he had phoned Cristina Fernandez on Tuesday night once the news of her surgery became public.

“Cecilia and I, in the name of the Chilean people wished her a good and fast recovery” and agreed to reschedule the visit programmed for January 25/26, since Cristina Fernandez will have to remain in rest for at least three weeks following surgery.

The Argentine president plans to spend the rest and recovery period at her home in El Calafate, in Patagonia.

Last December 13, the Foreign Affairs ministries from Chile and Argentina announced that Cristina Fernandez would be making an official visit to Chile on January 25 and 26, to address a bilateral agenda and regional relations. Integration, infrastructure and connectivity between the neighbouring countries are also in the agenda.

Diplomatic sources from both countries have speculated that during her meeting with President Piñera, Cristina Fernandez would bring up the issue of the Lan Chile weekly flights from Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile, to the Falkland Islands, the only link left between the British Overseas Territory and the South American continent.

Last September during her speech to the UN General Assembly Cristina Fernandez brought up the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute with the UK and cautioned she would ban flights to Malvinas, which have to cross Argentine air space, if London does not abide by UN resolutions and sits to talk on the issue.

Chile also announced this week that is will abide by the latest Mercosur (and Unasur) statement barring Falklands’ flagged vessels from docking in regional ports.

The January trip would have been Cristina Fernandez first overseas visit since taking office for a second consecutive four year term last 10 December, to which President Piñera attended.