Chilean government spokeswoman Ena Von Baer declared on Tuesday that her country “supports the establishment of a Palestinian state.” With this declaration Chile joins Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia, which in past weeks have recognized Palestine as a free and independent state.
Von Baer explained that Chile’s support is offered in the context of the negotiation process between Palestine and Israel. “On the basis of the negotiation process that is being carried out between the two parties,” Von Baer clarified during an interview conducted via Twitter with the electronic edition of the newspaper La Tercera.
The Chilean executive branch spokeswoman’s statement was corroborated by the foreign minister of her country, Alfredo Moreno, who linked the establishment of a Palestinian state to a peaceful coexistence with Israel.
“We want the state of Israel to be able to coexist with Palestine, and we want both of them to be able to enjoy harmonious coexistence, resolving differences,” the Chilean foreign minister said to journalists.
The day before, parliamentarians of all the political factions in Chile called upon the Sebastián Piñera government to recognize the existence of the Palestinian state with the pre-1967 borders.
More than 400,000 people of Palestinian origin live in Chile, the largest Palestinian community outside the Arab world.
Last Friday, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that his country will recognize, this week, Palestine as an independent state.
“Bolivia will send a letter to the president of Palestine, recognizing it as a sovereign and independent sate,” Evo Morales said at a press conference in Paraguay. “Next week, officially, we will be informing international organizations” of Bolivia’s decision to recognize Palestine as one of its peers in the international community.
Before Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina took the same decision in early December. Uruguay, for its part, will formalize its diplomatic relations with Palestine in early 2011, with the establishment of an embassy in the United Arab Emirates.
The original article “Chile apoya creación de un Estado palestino” was published by TeleSur on 21 December 2010. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).
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