The presidents of Peru, the Dominican Republic and the King of Spain, Felipe VI, were among the first authorities to arrive in Chile this Thursday for the presidential inauguration of Gabriel Boric, who received a Pokémon plush toy from the Japanese delegation, the sympathetic note of the day
Source: AFP
Boric, who at 36 will become Chile’s youngest president, received various guests at the Municipality of Santiago, in the heart of the capital.
In addition to meeting with Felipe VI, the Dominican president, Luis Abinader, and the Peruvian, Pedro Castillo; he also did it with the Ecuadorian, Guillermo Laso, and the Paraguayan, Mario Abdo.
He also received the Prime Ministers of Curaçao, Gilmar Pisas; from Haiti, Ariel Henry; from Guyana, Mark Phillips; and envoys from the governments of Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, Japan, Morocco, Palestine, Honduras and the United States.
The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, and his counterpart from Bolivia, Luis Arce, are scheduled to arrive on Friday.
“Dear @gabrielboric, may this new stage in Chile consolidate the integration efforts that must prevail among our brother peoples. The population expects great social reforms hand in hand with sustainable investments. Let’s make the development of the great country a reality”, Castillo published on social networks, along with a photo with Boric, to whom he gave the figure of a horse.
However, it was Japan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Kiyoshi Odawara, who left a nice note by giving Boric a stuffed animal from the popular animated series Pokémon, after learning that the president-elect had previously posted on his social networks that his favorite character was Squirtle, a kind of blue turtle.
The surprise and pleasure that the gift gave him was not hidden even by the mask and he reaffirmed it on Twitter, where he published a video receiving the gift with the phrase: “Thanks to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Kiyoshi Odawara, for this Squirtle!”
Throughout the day, the outgoing president, the conservative Sebastián Piñera, also received the official delegations at the La Moneda presidential palace.
On Friday, Piñera and Boric will make the change of command in the coastal city of Valparaíso, about 120 km from Santiago, at the Congress headquarters.
For the ceremony, in addition to the official and foreign authorities, Boric invited personalities such as the former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, the British Labor parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn, the president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo of Argentina Estela de Carlotto, and the Nicaraguan writer and opponent of the government of Daniel Ortega, Gioconda Belli.
“After 14 hours of flight, I have landed in Santiago de Chile!! I am ready for this new Chilean beginning with President Gabriel Boric, in whom so many of us have our hopes,” Belli tweeted.
