José Antonio Kastelected president of Chiliarrived in Lima on the night of Tuesday, January 6 for a planned meeting with the president José Jeríone that will focus on migration in the region.
KAST SPEAKS
After his meeting with Peruvian President José Jerí, the elected president of Chile, José Antonio Kast, addressed his plan for irregular migration before the Peruvian press.
Kast, who visited Callao, reiterated that the objective of his policy is to restore the immigration order and that foreigners in an irregular situation must leave the country.
The president-elect of Chile explained that his approach does not seek to violate anyone’s dignity, but rather to demand compliance with the Law. “What we seek is order for our country, and to maintain order, if someone wants to arrive, they have to arrive through the door. If they entered through the window, they should come out and request entry again accordingly so that we can scrutinize the background and see if we have sufficient capabilities to be able to receive them,” Kast told the Peruvian press.
Kast specified that the current situation of irregular migrants in his country is waiting, since they have 73 days left to leave the lands of the neighboring country. However, he also mentioned that there is a possibility that the grantes return with their papers in order. The deadline would be March 11.
“I hope that the transition that occurs in Venezuela will allow that obstacle that some saw to be solved and the planes will be able to land if appropriate in Venezuela,” he stated.
Kast acknowledged the concern of other nations about the massive departure of migrants, but assured that his objective is to generate a space for dialogue. He mentioned that his plan is to seek a “humanitarian solution” through coordination between the legislative, judicial and executive powers of the countries involved, once the new parliamentarians in Chile take office.
“We all want those who were forced to leave their homeland to be able to return. We also hope in time that other countries that have expressed their disagreement with what we propose can rethink their position and collaborate so that the people who have been forced to leave Venezuela can return to their homeland,” he assured.
Regarding illegal mining, he announced that he will promote agreements to prevent illegal mining from entering other doors. In that same framework, he expressed concern about the link that illicit mining has with organized crime and assured that “this requires us to unite; just as we have to unite to confront irregular migration, we have to unite to confront organized crime; it has no flags, it has no borders, it does not respect the legislation of the countries.”
Kast stated that if the countries do not unite, illegal mining will advance in countries like Chile, since crime does not distinguish between political differences, and that his desire is to collaborate with the country on these types of issues.
UPDATE
The presidents of Peru and Chile, José Jerí and José Antonio Kast (president-elect), held a bilateral meeting today in Lima where they laid the foundations for a new stage of joint work that will prioritize the fight against transnational organized crime and the promotion of trade, investment and tourism.
At the beginning of his speech, Peruvian President José Jerí emphasized that the meeting will serve to lay the foundations for a shared roadmap. “For us, our relationship with Chile is a State policy that is conducted within a framework of friendship and cooperation, because we are neighboring countries with deep historical, economic and commercial ties,” the president mentioned.
The Peruvian leader highlighted that both countries share “important coincidences”, specifically mentioning the fight against transnational organized crime and the need to cooperate and stop irregular migration that affects the region.
For his part, the elected president of Chile, José Antonio Kast, thanked the meeting for the opportunity, and highlighted the presence of representatives of the Peruvian legislative branch, which he considered “very important for an exchange to occur also at the parliamentary level.”
Kast placed emphasis on security and migration, calling organized crime a “kind of transnational industry that does not respect borders or flags.” To combat it, the Chilean president insisted on the need for legislative cooperation to guarantee not only physical certainty of security for people, but also “legal certainty for investors.”
Regarding irregular migration, Kast expressed that, in many cases, it has been a “forced migration due to non-respect for democratic norms in some countries,” which affects the entire continent.
PREVIOUS NOTE
The visit, which was announced a week ago, will take place a few days after the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro by agents of the Delta Force, an elite unit of the United States special forces.
The Chavista leader is accused of narcoterrorism in the North American country and has been temporarily replaced by Delcy Rodríguez, currently obtaining support from Donald Trump, under warning.
In that sense, both Kast and Jerí have supported the arrest of Maduro, and precisely one of the points that will be discussed in the meeting that both have agreed upon is the migration of Venezuelans.
The Chilean leader affirmed that he will work to “enable” a humanitarian corridor that allows the return of Venezuelan immigrants to their country, an initiative that – as he explained – has already been discussed with authorities in the region, including the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa.
The proposal for a return corridor is part of Kast’s campaign commitments and is part of a coordinated strategy between countries that have received a strong flow of Venezuelan citizens in recent years. The objective is to advance concrete solutions to a crisis that has impacted the social, economic and security systems of several South American nations.
Kast stressed that the region must act pragmatically while consolidating a political solution in Venezuela. “We hope that it will be resolved well, that full democracy will be recovered. But, in the meantime, we have to continue moving forward among the neighboring countries that have been affected by this situation to look for alternatives,” he stated.
The meeting between Kast and Jerí is scheduled for this Wednesday at 11:00 am, in addition to private meetings with representatives of different sectors, according to information released by the Peruvian Presidency at the end of December.
