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Chile Cancels APEC, COP25 Amid Ongoing Protests

Steve Herman

   WHITE HOUSE - White House officials were caught by surprise with
   Chile's announcement it is cancelling two summits, including one
   President Donald Trump was to attend next month where he was to meet
   Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders.

   Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced Wednesday that due to
   continuing anti-government protests in Santiago, his country will no
   longer host the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in
   mid-November as well as the COP25 climate summit in early December.

   "This has been a very tough decision," Pinera told reporters, saying it
   was "based on the wise principle of common sense."

   As president, Pinera added, he "must always put his compatriots above
   all else."

   His main concern, Pinera explained "is reestablishing public order, our
   citizens' safety and social peace along with pushing through a social
   agenda to respond to the main demands of our citizens.

   "We're just hearing about it," said one White House official when asked
   about the cancellation.

   Some officials in the West Wing acknowledged they heard about the
   cancellation from the Twitter timelines of reporters and news
   organizations, an indication that no word of the summit's cancellation
   had been distributed internally among senior White House officials
   before Pinera's announcement in Santiago on Wednesday morning.

   "I don't know," replied White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary
   Hogan Gidley when reporters asked him if Pinera notified Trump before
   the public announcement. Asked whether another country might host the
   leaders, he replied: "We're trying to get to the bottom of it."

   Trump has repeatedly said he expected to use the APEC summit as a venue
   to sign "phase one" of a bilateral trade agreement with the Chinese
   president.

   Protests in Chile began October 18 over a 4% increase in subway fares
   in Santiago have spread across the nation, inflamed by the frustration
   of ordinary Chileans who feel they have been left out of the prosperity
   of Latin America's wealthiest country.

   

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