US sees opportunities to cooperate with Chile in energy, mining

The US government sees opportunities to cooperate with Chilean President Gabriel Boric (pictured) in areas such as environmental protection, renewable energies and mining, according to Brian A. Nichols, US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

“[Boric’s] government is very much committed to protecting the environment and addressing climate change, obviously two huge priorities for our administration and, similarly, both are very much committed to supporting equality for women and they pursue a feminist foreign policy,” Nichols said during a webinar in response to a question from BNamericas on US-Chilean relations under Boric.

Last week, Boric participated in the Ninth Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles, where he said, among other things, that Chile remains open to foreign investment and that his administration would not ditch fiscal stability.

During a webinar held by The Inter-American Dialogue to analyze the results of the summit, Nichols highlighted Chile’s potential in renewable energies, where he stated that the US could cooperate in the development of solar and wind projects in many stages of the supply chain.

“Chile is also an incredibly rich country when it comes to critical minerals and that’s an area where I think, economically, we can cooperate to make our hemisphere self-sufficient and resilient with renewable energy through battery technology for example,” he said, pointing to the country’s lithium reserves.