Boric says he wants a good relationship with Brazil, but thinks ‘totally different’ from Bolsonaro

In his first meeting with the international press, at the Palácio de La Moneda, in Santiago, the newly sworn-in president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, stated that he wants to have a good relationship with Brazil, but stressed that there are great and evident differences between the agenda of his government and that of the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

“It is evident that we think totally differently from President Bolsonaro in terms of climate awareness and human rights,” Boric said on Monday (14). “But the Brazilian people chose him, and we respect that,” he added.

Boric said that he has an affinity with former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and that he invited him to his inauguration, but that he refused so as not to cause diplomatic discomfort with the current government, which, according to the Chilean, would represent a good characteristic of the PT. He stated that he had conversations with several PT politicians and stressed that it is also necessary to “learn from the mistakes that were made”.

The president said he will not participate in Prosul (Foro para o Progresso da América do Sul), an alliance of right-wing governments in South America launched in 2019. He also indicated that he does not support the creation of blocs only between presidents who have the same profile. ideological, as would be the alliance created by his predecessor, Sebastián Piñera and made up of Brazil, Paraguay and Colombia.

Argentina had been integrated into the alliance during Mauricio Macri’s administration, but the current government, of center-left Alberto Fernández, also abandoned it. “Integration initiatives that are based on ideology don’t work, like Prosul and the Lima Group,” added Boric.

The Chilean president stated that the country will reinforce its participation in CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), created in 2010, and in the Pacific Alliance, a bloc formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru since 2011. Even so, he said that the most important thing is that “Latin America will once again have a voice in the world”.

Despite the changes in the Chilean model that are announced with the new Constitution, Boric said that Chile under his administration firmly believes in multilateralism. “We know that we can improve some aspects, but we will continue to be very involved in the world, from Latin America.”