CHILE

The strategic partnership between the EU and Latin America was established as part of the first European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean (EU-LAC) Summit in June 1999. The principle underlying the strategy and the subsequent association and partnership agreements with individual countries and regions on the South American continent was the assumption that the EU and the countries of Latin America are united by many shared values and interests. In 2019, building on this partnership, the German government created the Foreign Office’s Latin America and Caribbean Initiative, which is intended to bolster collaborative efforts between Germany and the countries in the region, particularly with regard to the economy, science, climate policy, collaboration between constitutional states, and the issues of digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

Chile is not one of the most populous countries in Latin America, but with a history of 150 years of German immigration it has a special importance to Germany. Within the EU, Germany is Chile’s most important trading partner. Following the hiatus in the country’s domestic politics and its widespread foreign-policy isolation during the military dictatorship, the democratic governments in Chile since 1990 have returned to the global community and resumed the country’s foreign-policy tradition of  “multilateral negotiations”Barrios, Harald: Die Außenpolitik junger Demokratien in Südamerika, Argentinien, Brasilien, Chile und Uruguay, Opladen 1999, p. 126. with an additional emphasis on protecting human rights. Since then, Chile has made committed contributions to multilateral organisations to promote peace, human rights and democracy, and to peacekeeping activities under the aegis of the United Nations. This multilateral approach is now part of the DNA of Chilean foreign policy.Former Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero (2018–2019) stressed: El Multilateralismo es un imperativo de la Política Exterior de Chile (…). , cit. in: Somavía, Juan / Oyarce, Pedro (Ed.): Chile Actor del Sistema multilateral, Una tradición nacional, Santiago 2018, p. 15.

As a commodity-rich country, Chile is one of the countries that is strategically important to Germany’s resource security. It has the world’s largest copper and lithium deposits, for example. As in many parts of the world, Germany’s interest in absorbing commodities from Chile faces competition from the more aggressive position being taken by China in the region. Close integration of Chile and consultations on political, economic and social questions are not only desired by the partner country, but are in the fundamental interests of both Chile and Germany.

The questions of climate protection and energy security are relatively new to Chile’s foreign policy agenda. Given its topography and geographical make-up, Chile is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. The decision by the Chilean government to organise the COP25 Climate Change Conference in 2019 in Santiago after Brazil dropped out at short notice was a clear acknowledgement of Chile’s commitment to do even more in future as a player in international forums to combat the effects of climate change. 

Chile’s political and social debate about climate change and energy security makes strong reference to the energy transition in Germany and also puts trust in collaboration with German partners. Since 2004, the German Society for International Cooperation (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ) has been focusing on advising the Chilean government and regional and local authorities in this regard. Chile has announced an exit from coal by 2040, and the proportion of the country’s energy mix represented by renewables has been steadily rising.

On the sidelines of the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue (BETD) in April 2019, Germany’s former Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier (CDU) concluded a bilateral energy partnership with Chile.See https://www.energypartnership.cl/home/ (31.05.2022). Closer collaboration in the area of renewables and energy efficiency is therefore being planned, in addition to hydrogen and digitalisation. In April 2020, Chile was the first Latin American country to comply with the obligation under the Paris Agreement to regularly update its National Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in order to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.Ministerio del Medio Ambiente (2020): Gobierno entrega la actualización de su compromiso de reducción de emisiones y medidas para enfrentar el cambio climático, 09.04.2020, in: https://mma.gob.cl/gobierno-entrega-la-actualizacion-de-su-compromiso-de-reduccion-de-emisiones-y-medidas-para-enfrentar-el-cambio-climatico/ (16.02.2022). Chile is showing itself to be a reliable partner to Germany in the global fight against the consequences of climate change, the progression of which will have an important impact on the international order.

Germany and Chile also have a collaborative arrangement in place regarding domestic security. Considering the social unrest in October-November 2019 and the fact that the security forces were visibly overstretched, the Chilean government expressed “its interest in German expertise to support a reform process for the police, with particular regard to social acceptance and police actions in the area of communication and de-escalationDeutscher Bundestag (2022): Drucksache 19/19388, Antwort der Bundesregierung auf Drucksache 19/18414, 22.05.2022, in: https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/19/193/1919388.pdf (31.05.2022).”. Since then, various police delegations from Germany have provided advice to police leaders and the Interior Ministry in Chile. The extent to which this collaboration will continue following the change of government from the conservative President Sebastián Piñera to the leftist Gabriel Boric is uncertain.

Despite changes of government, interaction and cooperation in multilateral forums are firmly anchored in the country’s foreign-policy doctrine across party lines. As a logical consequence, Chile joined the Alliance for Multilateralism, created by Germany and France, as co-host.Alliance for Multilateralism (2022): What is the “Alliance for Multilateralism”?, in: https://multilateralism.org/the-alliance/ (31.05.2022). Chile’s then Foreign Minister Teodoro Ribera stressed his country’s readiness to “press ahead with the modernisation of international organisations and adapt them to the times and current requirements”.Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (2019): Canciller Ribera participa en encuentro ministerial de la Alianza por el Multilateralismo, 26.09.2019, in: https://minrel.gob.cl/canciller-ribera-participa-en-encuentro-ministerial-de-la-alianza-por-el/minrel/2019-09-26/175209.html (16.02.2022). Chile and Germany are already coordinating the way they deal with a number of multilateral topics, and are pooling their efforts in areas such as the fight against poverty; democratic development; Antarctic protection and utilisation; environmental protection; arms control; combating the drug trade; and security policy. Both countries have a common position regarding the reform of the UN Security Council, with the aim of creating a committee of no more than 25 members, and an increase in the number of permanent and non-permanent members. Chile supports Germany’s efforts to become a permanent member of the Security Council.

In view of the current health crisis, the Chilean government is calling for concerted action by the global community to overcome the pandemic. In a recently communicated initiative, Chile calls on Germany and other allies to work together via the committees of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop tools and measures to respond early and cooperatively to future pandemics.

Despite continued shortcomings in the practical implementation of its national environmental and energy policy, Chile is already playing a leading role in the region in the areas of climate protection, energy efficiency and energy security, since its political stability and economic strength give it the resources it needs to take the next steps. In this connection, the Chilean government was asked by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to head the “Mitigation Strategy” coalition as part of the Climate Action Summit in New York in September 2019.

The readiness to coordinate closely with Germany on multilateral questions is in place, but direct interaction between high-level German politicians and Chile is often lacking. The last State visits by German Foreign Ministers and heads of government took place a number of years ago. Most recently, German President Joachim Gauck paid a four-day visit to Chile in 2016.

Chile’s role in the Alliance for Multilateralism is a powerful signal to the government and population that Germany thinks highly of the democratic changes that have taken place in the country during the past three decades. Nevertheless, the imponderables of the constitutional process currently pose a threat to political stability in Chile. An even stronger orientation toward this partner country, in the form of high-level bilateral meetings, for example, would therefore once again emphasise the importance of Chile as a beacon of stability in the region and as a highly regarded partner in values in efforts to overcome global challenges.

Andreas Klein headed the KAS office in Chile from September 2016 to March 2022.