Nationwide Protests Urged Chile President to Cancel APEC and Global Climate Summit

Due to the nationwide protests that already took the lives of 12 people, Chile President Sebastian Pinera was forced to withdraw two major international summits. President Pinera announced the withdrawal of hosting the events on Wednesday.

In a report from NBC News, Pinera was only forced to withdraw the events due to the increasingly chaotic state of the country. The demonstrators took to the streets to ask for economic equality and better public services due to the economic progress of the country.

Because of the protests, hundreds of businesses and establishments were affected. Most of the shops were vandalized and some buildings and cars were even set ablaze. Meanwhile, the situation was stabilized on Wednesday, except for the few protesters in the streets of Santiago.

Through a televised announcement, the Chile president stated his decision to cancel the two major summits. According to Pinera, withdrawing as host is a tough choice to make, but in times like these, Pinera claimed that he must focus on his citizens' cry.

The decision of the President was welcomed by both the opposition and pro-government parties in Chile. The two parties said that it is very unrealistic to discuss matters about climate change and some core concerns in the summit amidst the present protests.

In a report from Reuters, the aim of the APEC is supposed to bring together the 20 leaders from November 16-17. The event will also be attended by the leaders from two giant countries, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who are scheduled to sign an interim agreement to end their 15-month-old trade war.

An official from the White House told the Reuters reporters that the decision of Chile to cancel the trade summit had surprised the Trump's administration. The summit is also a chance for the two countries to sign an agreement in a neutral country. However, Trump administration still expects that the trade deal will be signed next month together with President Xi.

The 12=day protest in Chile caused some parts of Santiago to shut down. An estimated $400 million were destroyed in the metro transport and Chilean businesses lost $1.4 billion. Along with this, 7,000 demonstrators have been arrested in connection to the protest.

One of the major summits that is supposed to happen in Chile is the United Nations COP 25 between December 2 and 13. The summit will be attended by 190 delegates to talk about how to reduce global emissions to meet the Paris climate agreement. It can be remembered that the Paris Talk was attended by Former U.S. President Barrack Obama.

However, the United Nations are now looking for new venue to discuss the core concerns of climate change but the schedule of the summit will be delayed. Carolina Schmidt, Chile's environment minister, said that three other countries had expressed their willingness to host the summit but these countries were not named.

In the history of hosting an environment summit, this is the very first time that a country withdrew in a short notice. The Chile president said in another statement that the decision to withdraw the two major summits is very difficult and painful because Pinera understands the importance of APEC and Environment Summit not only for Chile but for the world.

Meanwhile, the Chile president fired some members of his cabinet this week and that includes finance, economic and interior ministers in a bid to stabilize the protests.

Read more: Chile cancels global climate, economic summits amid deadly protests and Chile cancels APEC trade summit and major climate gathering after riots