On Monday, as part of her official visit to Haiti, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Munoz and Defence, José Antonio Gómez, went to the city of Cap-Haitien to meet the Chilean troops of "Batallón Carrera" whom she warmly thanked for their work since 2004 and whose withdrawal process will begin on April 15.

"You represent the best of our country [...]" recalling that "Peace is an essential principle for Chile and its development model based on democracy, human rights and free trade, all values that we protect and we promote from these missions." In this sense, President Bachelet assured the Chilean soldiers that their mission had been successful "[...] you have succeeded in your mission, that is to say, the reduction of structural violence in Haiti and improving the quality of life of the population [...] Now it's time to refocus our strategy," adding "We have communicated our decision to achieve a responsible reduction of our military presence in Haiti [...] but we would continue to promote the United Nations support to the new Government of Haiti."

IH/ iciHaiti