King Filip and Queen Mathilde left for Chile on Monday morning for what will be the first Belgian state visit to a Latin America country in 60 years. The visit will focus on economic cooperation and space research and include stops in Santiago and Antofagasta. The royal couple will return to Belgium on Friday.
King Filip and Queen Mathilde embark on first state visit to a Latin America country by a Belgian royal couple in 60 years
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The King and Queen were originally scheduled to depart on Sunday. However, their flight was delayed was delayed by 24 hours due to technical issues. Consequently, their visit’s official programme has been shortened by one day.
The last state visit by a Belgian monarch to Latin America was in 1965 when King Boudewijn and Queen Fabiola toured Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. However, King Filip already visited Chili twine in 2002 and 2011 prior to his accession to the throne.
The visit had originally been planned for 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday the Belgian royals will visit the European Southern Observatory (ESO), an intergovernmental astronomy organisation co-founded by Belgium.
Eye in the sky
The King and Queen will tour the Paranal Observatory that is located over 3,000m above sea level in the Atacama Desert. They will take a look at the Very Large Telescope that comprises four 8.2m mirrors.
They will also visit the construction site of the European Extremely Large Telescope that once completed will have a mirror diameter of 39m. Also, space-related and located in Chili is Liège University Speculoos project that uses 6 robotic telescopes to search for rocky planets around the coldest stars of the cosmos.
Remembering those that fled oppression
On Tuesday the King will meet with Chilians that took refuge at the Belgian ambassador’s residence following the military coup mounted by General Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973. 106 Chileans sought refuge at the Belgian ambassador’s residence in Santiago.
With the support of the then Belgian government, they were later able to leave Chili safely. In the years that followed Belgium welcomed around 5,000 Chilean refugees.
Queen Mathilde will visit the Coaniquem Institute that provides free treatment for children with severe burns.
Economic ties
Belgium’s economic links with Chili will also be a key theme during the royal visit. Belgium exported goods worth 645 million euro to Chile last year. Meanwhile, Belgium imported goods worth around 380 million euro.
On Thursday, the King and Queen will visit SQM lithium refinery in Antofagasta. This is the world’s largest lithium refinery. Lithium is vital for the production of batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones, etc. SQM has strong ties with Belgium, not least through the port of Antwerp that serves its gateway to Europe. The company also works with the Limburg company Veldman that has built a storage facility in the region.
Around 20 captains of industry and 10 academics are accompanying the royal couple as are politicians including the Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, the Federal Science Minister Vanessa Matz (both Francophone centrist), the Flemish Transport Minister Annick De Ridder (Flemish nationalist), the Walloon Prime Minister Adrien Dolimont (Francophone liberal) and the Brussels First Minister Rudi Vervoort (Francophone socialist).