A Chilean MP will represent Canada at Borek’s inauguration

TORONTO (Canada), March 8 Canadian-Chilean Representative Soraya Martinez will represent Canada at the inauguration of Gabriel Borek as President of Chile, to be held on March 11 in Santiago de Chile. In statements to Effie, Martinez, who left Chile with his family when he was seven – as did the nearly 40,000 Chileans who went into exile in Canada after General Augusto Pinochet’s coup in 1973 – admitted that the trip to Santiago, Chile would have “so emotional”. “I haven’t lived in Chile for 30 years,” said Martinez, 50, an MP for the Hochelaga constituency in Montreal, where a large part of Canada’s Chilean community is concentrated. He considered that both Trudeau’s government and the future government of President-elect Borek have “similarities” that provide an opportunity to increase cooperation between the two countries. Trudeau already indicated on December 21, when congratulating Borek on his victory in the presidential election, that he wanted to “strengthen” bilateral relations. According to Martinez, the three main areas of concern for Canada are indigenous issues, women’s rights, and the climate crisis. In addition, he stressed that both Canada and Chile face challenges with their indigenous peoples and that the two countries can share experiences. On the other hand, he stressed that Trudeau was the first to form a government in 2015 with the same number of men and women, something that Borek has now promised to do in Chile. Finally, the Canadian MP noted that Canada and Chile share a “very big challenge” such as the effects of the Arctic and Antarctic climate crisis. “In terms of environmental control, we have very similar challenges. I think we have to work together because we share the same problem,” he concluded. EFE jcr / pamp / lll