From Santiago
Gabriel Boric’s gesture with Alberto Fernández It is a complete definition of the bilateral relationship between Chile and Argentina that is already underway. The new president chose him to share speeches at the official residence of Cerro Castillo, in Viña del Mar. He wanted him to speak among other leaders of the region present at the welcome lunch. They were Pedro Castillo from Peru, Luis Arce from Bolivia, Mario Abdo Benítez from Paraguay, Luis Lacalle Pou from Uruguay and Guillermo Lasso from Ecuador.. The two speakers had previously greeted each other with a hug at the Valparaíso Congress, during the transfer of command. The ceremony was a symphony of gestures. One only summarizes the political accent -beyond the protocols-, that the former student leader imprinted on his oath as the highest authority in the country. He approached the former president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseffone of the special guests, and merged with her in another emotional hug that left her moved. The scene made the absence of far-right Jair Bolsonaro more evidentrepresented at the event by its vice president, Hamilton Mourao.
The Argentine president had first fired Sebastián Piñera when he entered Congress to fulfill the delivery of command. It was a handshake, an exchange of circumstantial words. The other side was Fernandez’s greeting with Boric, perhaps the most extensive along with the one that the Chilean lavished with the president of Bolivia. The style of the former student leader, relaxed and on the fringes of protocol, extended the time he went out to the street, generated requests for selfies and face-to-face dialogues between the leaders in a small place for the tension of the ceremonial staff.
Fernandez was there when he was approached by a group of Chilean television journalists and the president, with occasional humor, gave some political definitions. He referred to the bilateral relationship, the assumption of Boric and what he represents for Latin America, in addition to commenting the possible meeting between the two in Argentina, which would be the first country visited by the region’s youngest president.
When asked what he felt when Boric invited him to share his speeches at the reception for all the foreign representatives in Viña del Mar, he said in a witty tone: “I think it was a mistake for the president to have given me such an honor. But of course I am honored and grateful. I will gladly do it because I have the best opinion of Chilean President Boric. I think I have a written speech, but I’m going to improvise, “he declared regarding the words he would say later at the Cerro Castillo residence.
He commented that in his speech he would talk regarding “the future, because we are living through very difficult times. A war has broken out and it is almost inconceivable that following so much pain caused by the pandemic, people die in a military action. We have to reflect for the future then. It cannot be that so much pain has not served to make us better as humanity”.
He also answered the question regarding What does Boric’s presidency represent for Latin America?: “I say that Chileans today must be very happy because they have experienced a moment of great social commotion and have resolved the situation respecting the institutionality and that is a merit of all Chileans. It speaks well of the democratic quality of Chile, of the institutional quality of the country”.
“We have enormous expectations, as does everyone else. Having a 36-year-old president in Latin America generates that, a great expectation. He is a president who has courage, courage and who puts topics for debate on the table that, perhaps, others do not. I have the best expectations, for me Chile treasures a definitely good future”, added Fernández.
A journalist asked him for his opinion on the generation of young politicians that Boric represents and today come to power with left-wing ideas. The Argentine president stated: “Governments are the ones chosen by their peoples, I do not make distinctions of that kind. What I do say is that there is a 36-year-old president, it is a great challenge for him, it is a great merit of Chile that it has trusted in that youth. I know Boric, I know how he thinks. AND for Latin America it is a great boost too, because he is a Chilean who thinks regarding Latin America and it makes us very happy”.
When they consulted him regarding relations with Argentina, the most heated moment of the spontaneous interview arrived. “Everyone asks me the same thing and I don’t know why they ask me. We have indissoluble bonds that can never be broken or broken. We have lived in times of dictatorships moments of tension, but in democracy we have been able to solve any problem by talking. I would be very ungrateful if I didn’t say that, with President Piñera, that he doesn’t think like me, if we had a problem we might talk and that’s what we should do. We believe in multilateralism, we believe that conflicts between nations are resolved through diplomatic channels and dialogue. And so we have to work. And I am sure that with Chile we are going to work hard and well”.
Before closing the dialogue with a response to Boric’s visit to Argentina, Fernández allowed himself a football humorof those that seek to relax by appealing to a popular passion shared by the peoples: “We are determined to forget the two Copa Americas that won us”, he remembered. He commented on the trip of the new Chilean president to Buenos Aires: “For me it would be an immense honor to receive Gabriel and for Argentina to be the first country he visits.”
