MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Boric: Chile and Argentina are brotherly peoples

“These political differences cannot cloud the fact that our integration between both countries is absolutely necessary,” said Boric

Chile's President Gabriel Boric Font insisted that his country and Argentina were brotherly peoples and that despite his ideological differences with Javier Milei, his duty was to “continue promoting integration at the highest level.”

 “The Chilean and Argentine people are brotherly peoples,” said Boric. “Therefore, my duty as president of the Republic is that, regardless of the political differences that undoubtedly exist between the president-elect and the government in office in Chile, our peoples and countries have relations of State with a high level of vision and we continue promoting integration at the highest level.”

“As President of Chile I will work tirelessly to keep our sister nations united and collaborating for the welfare of all,” he added.

Milei and Boric had a “frank” telephone “conversation in which the welfare of both peoples was put first, according to La Moneda sources.” It was also reported that the Chilean leader was still reviewing whether to attend Milei's inauguration on Dec. 10. Presidential Spokeswoman Camila Vallejo said that the Chilean president “is now also with a very intense agenda in international, regional, economic and security matters”, but that, “beyond the visit or not to the change of office, our main objective is to maintain good diplomatic relations with Argentina.”

In a trip to Santiago last July, Milei, then merely a presidential candidate, said that ”leftists they get together, that is, between impoverishers they get together, and just as we hope to remove the Kirchnerist plague (...) I hope you have the happiness and the height to be able to remove this impoverisher Boric as well.“

At that time, Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren asked Milei to restrict his campaign to Argentina and to observe a ”minimum respect“ for Chilean authorities and institutions, starting with the President. When Boric was elected in December 2021, the ultra-Argentinean posted on his social networks: ”Frightening news“.

In addition, the post of Chilean ambassador to Argentina has been vacant since last September when the Communist Bárbara Figueroa resigned to take over as party secretary general.

Regarding the next appointment, Boric said ”we are going to do this based on the joint interests of Chile and Argentina, and let there be no doubt that, regardless of the differences, these political differences cannot cloud the fact that our integration between both countries is absolutely necessary and that is what I will defend during all the remaining years of our mandate.”