In Portugal on Tuesday for the 19th Ibero-American Summit, both President Alan Garcia and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet sought to express appreciation for each other’s conciliatory tones regarding the case of a Peruvian air force officer who had sold military secrets to Chile.
President Garcia recognized the “courageous” and “decisive” statements made by President Bachelet, who said the Chilean government would be investigating the espionage case. Garcia also clarified a statement he made when the spy case was made public . “I never said that Chile was a republiquette. I said that espionage is more typical of a republiquette than of civilized and democratic countries. That is different.”
“I consider (President Garcia’s) statements very positive,” Bachelet commented to the press.
Garcia and Bachelet met at the summit sessions in Estoril, but only during the scheduled meetings and did not discuss bilateral issues. They spoke to the press at different times.
