Chilean President: Today Ukraine, tomorrow anyone
President Boric of Chile says ‘Russia should withdraw’ from Ukraine conflict.
President Boric of Chile says ‘Russia should withdraw’ from Ukraine conflict.
Chile’s President Gabriel Boric has told the 鶹Լ that the war in Ukraine is not the fault of both parties, and that Russia ‘invaded a free country’ and ‘should withdraw’.
Speaking to Stephen Sackur on HARDtalk, President Boric said ‘we should defend international law. Because now it's Ukraine, tomorrow it could be us. It could be anyone.’
In contrast to other Latin American leaders more closely aligned to Moscow, President Boric and has been critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He says while there might be different opinions on the reasons for the conflict, there should be agreement that “international law should be respected at all times”.
Gabriel Boric, Latin America’s youngest head of state at just 37, is seen as the driving force of the new progressive politics on the continent. Unlike leftist movements of the past which emphasised revolutionary socialism and anti-imperialism, Boric has put human rights and democracy at the centre of his political project. This has put him at odds with many leaders in the region and he has spoken out against the authoritarian regimes of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.
President Boric also said Europe and the US had lost influence in Latin America to China, which was in ‘a stronger position… because they are doing a better job’. The US he said ‘should recognise that they did wrong in the relationship with Latin America, promoting military coups’. President Boric said he wanted his region to be independent ‘in a world that is becoming more polarised’ and to form closer ties to countries ‘with shared values’.