MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Boric and Petro discuss region's leaning to the left

“The wealth that we all generate has to be distributed in a better way among those who produce it,” Boric said in Bogota alongside Petro

Chile's President Gabriel Boric Font Monday became the first foreign leader welcomed for a one-on-one meeting by Colombia's new head of state Gustavo Petro.

During their encounter in Bogotá, both leftwing leaders agreed on the importance of relaunching the Andean Community bloc and strengthening the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

”We have particularly talked about revitalizing the Andean Community (...) which had in the times of the economic thinking of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) a very important role in the planning of the industrialization processes of our countries,“ Petro said in a joint press conference after the meeting.

The Andean Community, founded in 1969, is one of the oldest South American blocs and is made up of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, but it lost relevance after Chile's departure in 1976 under dictator Augusto Pinochet and of Venezuela in 2011.

Petro also pointed out he and Boric had discussed ”strengthening Celac,“ a group founded in 2011, which serves as a broader institution that encompasses more countries and involves ”concrete integration processes“ in areas such as electricity and clean energy.

The Chilean president said this Pan-American vision must be broadened so that alliances ”are not only based on ideological affinities but on the basis of cooperation among our peoples.“

”We were talking about the integration of the electrical system, also about the exchange of natural resources in pursuit of decarbonization. Therefore, we have many elements on which to advance,” Boric told reporters.

Petro has always looked to Boric for his political stance while counting on Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Bolivia's Luis Arce Catacora and Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who used to be president between 2003 and 2010 and whose return to the Planalto Palace is believed to be a done deal after October's elections.

All these governments share a political stance and might form a new leftwing bloc in the region, leaving behind the prejudices and mistakes of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro.

Boric and Petro also spoke about “collaborating and deepening the dialogue on the fight against organized crime” which “causes much havoc” in Latin America, Petro explained, in addition to tackling human and drug trafficking.

They also reviewed a tax reform, based on Chile's plan after Boric's victory. “The wealth that we all generate has to be distributed in a better way among those who produce it,” Boric argued.