Boric coldly greets Milei at the change of command in Bolivia

The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, attended this Saturday the inauguration of his Bolivian counterpart, the center-right Rodrigo Paz. When he was already installed in the seats of the Bolivian Legislative Assembly, in La Paz, accompanied by other Latin American leaders, the Argentine head of state, Javier Milei, entered. The presidents of Uruguay, Ecuador, and Paraguay, Yamandú Orsi, Daniel Noboa and Santiago Peña, respectively, greeted the libertarian standing, with a handshake and even a hug. Boric, however, remained sitting in his seat when shaking hands with Milei.

After being sworn in before the Legislative Branch, Paz thanked the presence of the five Latin American presidents present: “In Argentina I learned solidarity as a child, when we were in exile, and eating what in Bolivia is called ‘common pot’. In Chile, I do not forget the Macul neighborhood, also in that exile. And in Ecuador, there I learned to ride the bicycle.”

The disagreements between the Chilean leftist and the Argentine far-right have been going on since before Milei arrived at the Casa Rosada in 2023. When he was campaigning, the libertarian participated in a forum in Santiago de Chile where he said: “Just as we hope to get rid of the Kirchnerist plague in Argentina, I hope that you have the happiness and height to also be able to get rid of this impoverishing Boric.” When the Argentine was elected, the president of Chile congratulated him on social networks, ensuring that he would work “tirelessly” to keep the two nations, which share 5,300 kilometers of border, “united and collaborating for the well-being of all.” He also attended his inauguration, as did Republican José Antonio Kast, invited by Milei.

In the last two years there have been a series of altercations, such as last December, when Milei’s Economy Minister, Luis Caputo, said in an interview that “Chile is governed by a communist who is about to sink it,” which prompted the Chilean Foreign Ministry to send a note of protest. The traditional right came out to defend Boric, but Kast supported the words of the trans-Andean minister: “Caputo did not tell any lies. We are governed by a left-wing government.”

In another episode that has strained diplomacy between both countries, the Chilean said: “We, the presidents, pass, but the institutions and the people remain. I am not going to refer to the president of Argentina with adjectives or insults, as he is accustomed to doing.”

This Saturday’s cold greeting, in the first participation of a Chilean president in a Bolivian inauguration in 19 years, occurs just nine days before the presidential and parliamentary elections in Chile and four months after Boric leaves La Moneda. During the campaign, Kast, who has shown his great harmony with Milei, has used him as an example on some occasions. In August, for example, when asked about the governability that he can offer in a possible Government, he recalled that several said that Milei “was a danger for Argentina and today everyone is talking about the Argentine miracle, be careful with the analysts.”