Bogotá — Chilean President Gabriel Boric responded on Monday to a proposal made by the president of the Colombian Congress, Roy Barreras, during the investiture of Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, for the adoption of a common currency in Latin America.
During Petro’s inauguration ceremony, Barreras advocated for multilateralism and the integration of the nations of Latin America.
“Here is a homeland willing to be reborn, so that hand in hand with other Latin American nations we decide to share a common destiny, a single competitiveness agenda, a binding Latin American parliament, hopefully a single currency, and above all a single dignified voice,” Barreras said in his speech.
In a press conference called after his official meeting with newly sworn-in Petro, Chile’s President Boric was asked about the proposal made by Barreras.
Boric did not completely rule out the idea, but said that some stages and advances in Latin America’s integration must still be completed in order to move forward on such issue, citing the euro as an example.
“To me all the instances, initiatives of regional integration, that strengthen cooperation in our countries seem to me to point in a good direction. But, these specific mechanisms are very complex,” Boric said.
He recalled that in the European case, the integration process has its roots in the Coal and Steel Community, founded in 1952 in France, while the common currency only came into circulation on January 1, 2002.
“Therefore they are long-term processes, we have much
to advance before that (...) but that the issue is raised puts it under consideration for the future, we are available to be part of the talks without prejudice, but, I insist, there are many issues on which to advance before that,” Boric said.
Boric highlighted that in his meeting with Petro the proposal to revitalize the Andean Community as a regional integration mechanism was discussed.
According to Petro, the Andean Community, made up of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, still has an institutional framework that should be strengthened, and he invited Chile to review the issue.
The leftist leaders also considered strengthening other integration mechanisms such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
During the meeting, the integration of electric power and clean energies between both countries was also discussed, while Colombia shared its vision of Indigenous issues and its experience, as the process of “dignifying” the region’s Indigenous peoples is still incomplete, Petro said.
Among other issues, collaboration in migratory aspects and the fight against organized crime were also raised between the two leaders, as well as the proposal to advance toward a feminist foreign policy, an issue that was also discussed between Boric and Colombian Vice President Francia Márquez.