MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile's Council of Former Foreign Ministers discusses Venezuela and Hezbollah

Van Klaveren was told there was consensus about not breaking up with Caracas

Chile's Council of Former Foreign Ministers convened Monday to discuss the current state of affairs with Venezuela and Hezbollah's threat to the region, among other topics, it was reported in Santiago.

 Attending the gathering were sitting Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren, who chaired the event, and his predecessors Hernán Felipe Errázuriz, Carlos Figueroa, José Miguel Insulza, Soledad Alvear, Alejandro Foxley, Alfredo Moreno, Heraldo Muñoz and Antonia Urrejola attended the meeting.

Also appearing through a remote connection were Ignacio Walker and Juan Gabriel Valdés to review the regional and global scenarios. Although the meeting had a reserved nature, Chilean media described it as a positive instance.

Insulza admitted he and his fellow former top diplomats were given “complete information” from Van Klaveren, to whom they gave “quite concrete” opinions.

According to local media, there was a consensus that Chile should not sever ties with Caracas despite the complex situation with the Nicolás Maduro regime.

The meeting also addressed the diplomatic impasse with Argentina following allegations from Buenos Aires that Hezbollah was operating in northern Chile.

Muñoz said it was “a timely meeting” as the Council's role and that of the Foreign Policy Advisory Council becomes strategic regarding the conflicts in the Middle East.

Also Monday, Van Klaveren highlighted Chile's ties with Brazil, 188 years after diplomatic relations between the two countries were established. Chile has always attached great importance to South America's largest country, Van Klaveren explained.

It is “a fundamental economic relationship, of coincidence in foreign policy issues and, above all, with a great human content,” he added alongside Brazilian Ambassador Paulo Pacheco, in the anniversary celebration.

Van Klaveren also praised Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for summoning the Brasilia Consensus, a regional integration initiative created in 2023 that brings together 12 South American countries, which this semester is chaired by Chile.