Chile leader may see more Prosur headaches than kudos

Subject

Foreign policy and Prosur.

Significance

Government-opposition differences on foreign policy are unusual in Chile, but have been triggered by President Sebastian Pinera’s championship of Prosur, a new regional grouping launched in Santiago on March 22. It has been criticised by the left-wing opposition as bringing together only centre-right and right-wing governments.

Impacts

• Trade issues, although remaining important, may become less of a driver of Chile’s foreign policy.
• There is no clear reason to expect that Prosur will be more successful than previous initiatives like UNASUR.
• Discrepancies in Chile over foreign policy and, particularly, relations with the Bolsonaro government will persist.