Visits to Venezuela and Chile
Chile seeks good relations with all nations: president
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-12 10:29
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BUENOS AIRES: Visiting Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said Chile wants to seek good relations with all nations including those whose political systems differ from that of Chile, local media reported Friday.
He said in an interview with the Argentine daily newspaper Clarin that different Latin American countries have different models of democracy and and economic development.
"Each nation is free to choose its path," Pinera said, noting that Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil have adopted a model of democracy which is different from that of Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Pinera, who took office on March 11 this year, visited Argentina for five hours on Thursday and met his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez.
Speaking of Chile's 8.8-magnitude earthquake on February 27 that killed about 500 people and destroyed around 370,000 homes, Pinera said his government will soon submit "a law for donation to create a reconstruction fund" to the Congress.
Pinera said Chile will also "raise funds from various sources and use part of the nation's foreign exchange reserves" to carry out the reconstruction program.
According to Pinera, the reconstruction program will cost some 30 billion U.S. dollars, or around 17 percent of Chile's gross domestic product.
