The President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet, together with Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz; Defense Minister José Antonio Gómez; and the National Women's Service Minister Claudia Pascual, attended the day of celebration for the 15th anniversary of UN Resolution 1325 on the full and equal participation of women in all peace and security initiatives.
During his speech, Foreign Minister Muñoz recalled that 15 years ago, the theme of the UN General Assembly was 'Women in the year 2000: Gender equality, development and peace for the 21st century'. "We can say that in that year there was a turning point for gender equality and it marked the beginning of a new approach to the role of women in international peacekeeping and security" he remarked.
To Chile, added Minister Muñoz, 'Women, Peace and Security' is one of the priorities of our foreign policy. We have shown as such during our participation in the UN Security Council, setting the issue of women and peace as a transversal issue in the discussion of the major issues of security."
He further stressed that Chile is a member of the Group of Friends of Resolution 1325 and plays a leadership role in the region by being the first Latin American country to launch a national action plan which was implemented in 2009; a commitment that was reaffirmed this year with a second action plan, in which four fields and objectives were defined: prevention, participation, protection and, relief and recovery.
After the ceremony and after questions from the press about the relationship with Peru and the promulgation of the law in Peru creating the district La Yarada-Los Palos, Secretary of State Muñoz reiterated that "under these conditions it is not possible to have political consultations meetings at the under-secretary level, nor is it possible to have a ministerial meeting of the social council between the two countries." He added that "we would like a constructive and forward-looking relationship, and we have given proof of that. There have been initiatives by Chile at the level of the Government, regional authorities, mayors, the youth, the media, so the disposition of Chile is there to walk forward with Peru in building a common future. But a situation such as this is totally contrary to the spirit and atmosphere that Chile had wanted to build."
When asked about the statements by French President François Hollande on a dialogue between Chile and Bolivia for the maritime issue, the Minister stated that "it is clearly a call to Bolivia; a call for dialogue and not to unilaterally sue in a court of law, because that is precisely the opposite of dialogue."
In that context, he invited Bolivia "to dialogue bilaterally, without conditions and in accordance with international law. The invitation is made, which we had made before when we said that we were willing to resume diplomatic relations immediately and unconditionally." Muñoz stressed that the offer "is still in force, despite the reactions we heard at the time when we made the announcement. The willingness to dialogue bilaterally has always been part of Chile, so this type of call [to dialogue] seems very appropriate."