Chile & Peru

Peruvians consider Chile as the least friendly neighboring country. After the maritime dispute between 2006 and 2007, and the allegations of espionage against Chile this year, a survey conducted at the Universidad de Lima showed that only 2 % of Peruvians approve of Chile, whereas the 52 % considered Brazil as their best ally. The survey also showed that, according to Peruvian people, there’s been an increasing purchase of weapons during Michelle Bachelet’s administration.

Yesterday, the Presidential Candidate, Sebastián Piñera, visited the Brazilian President. The right-wing candidate, Sebastián Piñera, met with Lula Da Silva in Brasília and showed interest in supporting Brazil’s proposal to serve as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The two politicians also agreed that both countries should work together to reduce poverty, hunger and unemployment.
The Brazilian President gave Piñera advice on how to govern successfully, as he explained a 4-year term of office, as in Chile and Brazil, is too short.

The Chilean Metro bicycle-parking system is thriving. The success of the project “Bicimetro” has led to expand bicycle parking lots in two Santiago Metro stations; Escuela Militar and La Cisterna. According to the President of the project, Clemente Pérez, there’s been a significant rise in the Metro bike parking system, so in December, the company will install more bike parking lots in the new Pudahuel line Metro stations.
So far, there are 101.1 kilometers of bike paths in the Metropolitan Region, and the Ministry of Housing aims at constructing 200 more bike paths in Santiago towards 2010.

This past weekend, police discovered 387 kilos of marijuana and cocaine in the Chilean desert. According to experts, the drugs were probably smuggled into Chile from Bolivia, with an estimated market value of 942,000 thousand dollars. In addition, the Chilean police have confiscated about 770 kilos of drugs this year.

So far, the police have not been able to find the smugglers.

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