Nominated U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Promises to Respond to China's Weight in Andean Countries

The US ambassador to Chile promised to respond to China's influence in the Andean country on Tuesday, highlighting Chilean President Gabriel Borik's critical position on Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela as a “unique opportunity” for the new Latin American left.

In July, Bernadette Meehan, nominated by President Joe Biden, questioned China's weight gain in Chile during a confirmation hearing at the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

“I plan to approach this issue carefully in various ways,” said this career diplomat with Wall Street experience. He currently holds an executive position at the Foundation for the former President of Barack Obama.

Meehan said that if confirmed, he would highlight “Chile's importance in maintaining a business environment based on respect for free trade, transparency and democratic good governance.”

He also emphasized the “shared value” between the United States and Chile on environmental defense, labor rights, sovereignty, communications, data privacy, and security, emphasizing that he intends to use his position to highlight the “advantages” of doing business with American companies, unlike Chinese companies..

She also said she would warn of the risks that dealing with Chinese companies entails.

“Investments that may seem desirable at first can be costly if they undermine national security.” He warned.

He noted that China left the United States in 2009 as Chile's first trading partner, and plans to exercise “soft power” and open a manufacturing center in South American countries through a network of 21 Confucius cultural dissemination laboratories compared to 14 similar US spaces for distribution of anti-COVID-19 vaccine Sinobac.

Meehan was also asked how he could stand up to Beijing's interests in the mining sector in Chile, the world's leading copper producer and the second world lithium producer with the largest reserves on the planet.

“The United States can work with Chile to promote sustainable development of important minerals,” he said. It argued that the US commitment to environmental protection and labor rights should be used as a “comparative advantage” for China.

- “A unique opportunity” with boric acid -

Another topic at the hearing was how to deal with relations with Chile on democracy and human rights in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and other Latin American countries.

Meehan said, “This is an area where we have a common interest with President Borik.” Meehan emphasized the accusations of the new president of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said he was “particularly encouraged” by criticism of the dictatorship in the region.

“I think there is a unique opportunity to be with him. I think it gives us the opportunity to become a new type of left-wing leader in the region because it has become the center of how we want to rule Chile in defense of human rights.” He said.

On March 11, the 36-year-old former student leader Boric, who inherited the Conservative Party President Sebastian Pinera, fired himself from the Bolivar government, but did not hide his intimacy with Brazilian Luis Inacio Lula da Silva or Colombian left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro or the home socialist movement (MAS) in Bolivia.

Mihan, who participated in planning Obama's historic trip to Cuba in 2016, raised great questions about a statement by Democratic Senator Bob Menendez that highlighted the “sensuality” of Cuban history in 2018. Mihan flatly regretted that some of his remarks had shifted the focus from “the atrocities of the regime.”

“Cuba poses a threat to the national security of the United States and has a malicious impact on the region,” he said. “Once identified as an ambassador to Chile, I will do my best to promote the US policy of helping the Cuban people.”