The Permanent Forum on Foreign Policy valued the meeting held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Urrejola, with his counterparts from Bolivia and Argentina, Rogelio Mayta and Santiago Cafiero, respectively.
Qualifying it as “very important”, the group of diplomats pointed out that “it is a major step that should be weighed in all its scope. With an eye on the 21st century, always looking for a peaceful solution, Chile and Bolivia can advance towards new steps in their bilateral relations.
Last week, in a joint statement, the authorities of both countries indicated that the decision was adopted “convinced of the need to start a new stage in the bilateral relationship, for the benefit of both peoples.”
“The framework for working towards this objective is provided by a cross-border relationship that is real: entrepreneurs speak, academics interact, artists exchange visions, youth dialogue on digital networks. These are the determinants from which to advance with the look at the 21st century, also creating new opportunities in bilateral trade and investment for the economic and social development of the two countries”, stated the Forum.
In the same way, they highlighted the meeting between Foreign Minister Urrejola and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Santiago Cafiero, where the advances in the agendas defined by the leaders of both countries, Gabriel Boric and Alberto Fernández, were reviewed.
“We value in this the purpose of thinking together not only bilaterally, but also the regional and global moment with its various challenges and future projections. The talks on lithium, where Argentina, Bolivia and Chile have an opportunity of great international scope level due to the reserves accumulated by the three countries, add another element to the very significant leap that these meetings bring to our foreign policy,” they indicated.
“In this context, the Permanent Forum on Foreign Policy points out with deep concern the minimal attention given to these advances and the task promoted by Foreign Minister Urrejola, while the desire to address foreign policy as another instrument of internal polarization emerges with persistence. It is a harmful perspective that we strongly reject,” they said.
“What Chile needs is to strengthen consensus and broaden convergence. Knowing how to deal with our legitimate differences based on collective interest, with a vision of State and Society that responds to the changes that the world is experiencing. From this conviction, the Permanent Forum on Political Exterior will continue to promote, with all the actors, the development of a broad national strategy for international insertion,” they concluded.
