By María Teresa Infante Caffi, Ambassador of Chile to The Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Hague is a post at the crossroads of culture, politics and juridical traditions. Not only in Europe but also at the world scale. At the same time, a large, varied and active Chilean community enriches the world of the Embassy and the Consulate with demanding areas of work. It is a unique place for diplomacy and learning, whereby a stuffed program of work ranging from international courts to bilateral relations and international politics fill the days. Last June, when the Netherlands played with Chile in the Football World Cup, it was a good moment to experience the friendly atmosphere of the city.
For a foreign policy like the one Chile aims to sustain, it is of paramount importance to consider variations that integrate the political, economic, social, cultural, strategic and legal matters in a comprehensive and balanced picture. From migration to education, regional integration and participation in world forum, Chile’s diplomacy has to be able to prioritize and make a contribution of understanding diversities and to propose means to approach our societies.
In Chile’s memories, there is a special place for Dutch people who have had an extraordinarily meaningful importance in the discovery of Cape Horn and Easter Island, two imposing territories of Chile, plenty of history and bravery, in line with the splendid geographical features that characterize them. Those Dutch citizens invite us to go through the ages to appreciate the significant changes that Chile and its people have undergone along the times. In more recent years, areas such as human rights, spiritual assistance, technology promotion, refugees, trade and business, investments, education and art creation among others, compose a rich picture of the simultaneous interests that a country like Chile has to promote in its relations with the Netherlands for the reciprocal benefit of learning from other’s experiences.
There is still time in 2014 to continue strengthening links with our partners, mainly diplomats posted in the Netherlands, so as to give continuity to the promotion of values based on international law, cooperation, integrity, multilateralism and mutual respect for cultural diversity, as a democratic society has to. Altogether with a support for the effectiveness of the international organizations and tribunals based in the Netherlands.
