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Chile wants to buy Canadian liquefied natural gas to feed its energy-hungry mining industry as it bolsters its efforts to transform into a developed industrial nation and drag its citizens out of poverty.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, speaking to The Globe and Mail editorial board on Friday, said his government’s mission is to make Chile the first Latin American nation to become a truly developed country. “[We want to] transform Chile from an underdeveloped country to a developed country before the end of this decade,” he said.
To help Chile reach its development goals, Mr. Pinera is looking to Canada as a potential source of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has discussed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper the possibility of importing the fuel by ship.
“We will need to import a lot of energy, because we don’t have coal, we don’t have oil,” Mr. Pinera said. While Chile is rich in potential hydroelectric resources, he added, there is opposition to development from environmental groups – both inside and outside the country – and that will delay its hydro-power expansion.