Heine on Chile’s Diplomatic Dexterity: Boric’s Dual Visits
On October 30, 2023, Ambassador Jorge Heine, Research Professor at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Interim Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, emphasized the strategic significance of President Gabriel Boric’s dual visits to Beijing and Washington in his recent La Tercera column. Boric’s visit to the United States, coinciding with the bicentennial of Chile-U.S. diplomatic relations and the twentieth anniversary of the Chile-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), highlights Chile’s skill in balancing its interests in a turbulent world. Chile is among only six nations globally with FTAs with both the United States and China, yielding substantial economic benefits.
Recent developments, including the U.S. Senate’s ratification of a double taxation treaty and Chile’s upcoming inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program, demonstrate the strength of the Chile-U.S. relationship. Ambassador Heine advocates for a foreign policy that prioritizes Chile’s interests and bolsters its negotiation and influence capacities, resisting the notion of choosing sides in a competitive superpower world.
As Ambassador Jorge Heine aptly states,
“The best traditions of Chile’s foreign policy aim precisely in the opposite direction: to put our country’s interests first, not to be pressured by superpowers to take on theirs.”
For deeper insights, read Ambassador Heine’s full La Tercera column.
Ambassador Jorge Heine is a Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He has served as ambassador of Chile to China (2014-2017), to India (2003-2007), and to South Africa (1994-1999), and as a Cabinet Minister in the Chilean Government. Read more about Ambassador Heine on his Pardee School faculty profile.