SANTIAGO: Chile’s far-right President Jose Antonio Caste is due to meet with his Argentine counterpart in Buenos Aires on Monday, his first trip abroad since taking office in March.The visit continues the tradition of Chilean presidents making their first official state visit to Argentina.Politically united, Caste and Argentina’s liberal President Javier Meili are close allies of US President Donald Trump and are part of a growing right-wing pressure in the region.The two previously met after Cast’s election victory in December, in which he posed with a chainsaw – a symbol of budget cuts imposed by Miley.“Now more than ever, it is important to develop joint projects. We have great ideas on mining, energy, border crossings and the fight against organized crime,” Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna said on Sunday.The visit comes days after Argentina’s failed attempt to arrest Chilean guerrilla Galvarino Apabalaza.Apablaza, who had political refugee status in Argentina from 2010 until it was revoked by the courts in February, is accused of taking part in the 1991 assassination of Chilean right-wing senator Jaime Guzmán.Chile and Argentina share about 3,300 miles (5,300 kilometres) of border, and Buenos Aires is Santiago’s second-largest trading partner in Latin America, with a trade forecast of about eight billion dollars by 2025.
