Peruvian President Ollanta Humala will travel to Chile this month to attend the inauguration of that country’s next president, Foreign Minister Eda Rivas announced Friday.
Socialist Michelle Bachelet, who replaces conservative Sebastian Piñera, was elected Chile’s leader for the second time in December. She previously served as president from 2006 to 2010.
"President Piñera has invited the Head of State [Ollanta Humala] to a farewell dinner on March 10 and also to the inauguration ceremony on March 11. President Humala has accepted, so the visit is still on," Minister Rivas said in an interview with ATV+.
Rivas said she was confident that the execution of the International Court of Justice's ruling on the maritime dispute between Chile and Peru "will be handled as a state policy" under President Bachelet.
She recalled that during a recent meeting with Humala and Piñera in Cuba, President-elect Bachelet pledged to move forward with this topic. "Besides, both President Bachelet and her Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz are part of the United Nations system and respect this kind of issues."
"We have excellent bilateral relations in the economic, trade and social fields. Tacna and Arica are fully-integrated cities. Once the implementation of the ruling is completed, we must turn the page and move on to think about other issues," Rivas added.
(END) SMA/MVF/EEP
Published: 3/1/2014