It was Blinken’s first stop in Chile, with which the United States has traditionally had close ties, in a regional that began Monday in Colombia and will then take him to Peru.
Timeline items included regional security and migration.
Praising the “common technique and shared priorities” of the United States and Chile, Blinken said the countries would work together to “build more equitable and inclusive economies . . . dealing with the upheavals that are at the center of our people’s lives. “.
The 3 countries on Blinken’s itinerary had recently elected leaders on the left of the political spectrum, which in Latin America has been strongly anti-American.
Asked about this, Blinken said: “My private feeling is that what motivates the electorate is the preference to see their governments confront their considerations and produce concrete results. “
If they fail, he added: “There is a chance they will be eliminated. “
On Wednesday in Santiago, Blinken met with Boric, 36, elected in December to head a left-wing alliance that includes the Communist Party, along with his Chilean counterpart Antonia Urrejola.
U. S. officials say privately they are encouraged by Boric’s first steps as president, which included a new letter to update an era legacy of U. S. -backed dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Blinken addressed disagreements on regional issues.
In June, Boric among Latin American leaders to criticize Washington’s resolution not to invite Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, all under U. S. sanctions, to a Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles.
“We will have to unite for greater progress of our nations,” the Chilean president said at the time, adding that “exclusion is not the solution. “
“We will have to hold the Cuban government accountable as we would any other government for denying those rights to the Cuban people. We can have other approaches to the most productive way to do that,” Blinken said Wednesday.
Urrejola said they also discussed Venezuela, stalled talks in Mexico on how to resolve the country’s political and economic crises.
The debate took place under the auspices of a tactile organization of European and Latin American countries suspended by Venezuela last October.
Urrejola said he hoped the organization could simply “resume talks with the government of (Nicolás) Maduro, as well as with the Venezuelan opposition,” adding that the purpose of “Venezuela in 2024 having free and democratic elections. “
Blinken will then travel to Lima to attend the annual assembly of the Organization of American States on Thursday.