Chile's Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz arrived to New York this morning to participate in the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, which main theme is "People-centred: for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet".
During this first day, the Secretary General, António Guterres, the President of the Assembly, Miroslav Lajčák (Slovakia), the President of the United States, Donald Trump, as well as the leaders of Brazil, France and Colombia, among others, spoke at the Assembly of the multilateral organization.
"I believe that Chile and the President come to this General Assembly with the job completed, the job done," said the Chancellor. "We have been proactive in peace operations, it is enough to mention what we have done in Haiti and the participation we now have in Africa".
Additionally, he said, there are negotiations aimed at reaching a peace agreement between the government of Colombia and the FARC, in which Chile participated as an observer and continues to participate in the verification process, along with negotiations between the government and the National Liberation Army, ELN.
On the subject of climate change, he pointed out that the progress made in the conservation of the oceans makes Chile's leadership recognized worldwide. "The President will participate in a panel on this subject, with fishermen from Easter Island and Juan Fernandez", he said.
"In terms of integration, the Pacific Alliance has made a qualitative leap forward under Chile's presidency and is now an alternative platform for negotiating agreements with countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. It has also engaged in dialogue with the Atlantic and Mercosur", he added.
At noon, the head of diplomacy attended a luncheon hosted by the UN Secretary General for the Heads of Delegations, including President Donald Trump.
When consulted about the U. S. president's first address to the General Assembly, the head of Chilean diplomacy said there was no great variation from what he had said during the past few months, but appreciated the president's willingness to work with the community of nations. With regard to the declaration of "totally destroying" North Korea if forced, the Chancellor was emphatic in reiterating that Chile believes in diplomacy. "Always a diplomatic agreement, even if it is not the best, will be much better than war or conflict", he stressed.
In relation to the situation in Venezuela, which was also addressed by Trump, Minister Muñoz said that "we believe there is some progress as long as there is a conviction that the way out of the crisis is through negotiation, diplomacy; Chile will do everything in its power to contribute to that positive outcome". However, he recalled that "there is still a lot of work to be done, one thing is the disposition to dialogue and the other one is to have concrete results. We want concrete results, for the democratic constitutional order to be restored in Venezuela; that is the purpose and for that we will be available to cooperate with the other countries participating in this dialogue".
At the end of the day, the Minister met with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, just hours before the country was affected again by a major earthquake.
"The Mexican Foreign Minister is obviously very shocked by what has happened in his country. On behalf of the Chilean government, I have expressed our solidarity, our support and, with our experience in the area of earthquakes, our readiness to cooperate in whatever they feel is within our reach and what they need. They are doing a first evaluation and they have told us that they will surely use this offer", said the Chancellor.
With regard to Chileans living in the affected areas, the Minister informed that the government is in contact with our Embassy and Consulate, collecting the maximum information to hand it over to relatives and friends who have compatriots residing in Mexico. "At the moment we don't have information from affected people, but that's information we have to confirm with the passing of time", he said.