The wife of U.S. president will travel to Mexico City between 13 and 15 April to meet with Margarita Zavala to discuss the promotion of education, will be his first official trip alone to a foreign country

Michelle Obama, wife of U.S. President, has chosen Mexico for his first official visit abroad alone between 13 and 15 April next.

According to the White House has confirmed the visit of U.S. first lady will end not only to record the "deep ties" between Mexico and the U.S. but also continue to enter into dialogue last February in Washington with the wife of the president of Mexico, Margarita Zavala, in education and economic and social development through both sides of the border.

During their last meeting at the White House in February, Margarita Zavala, Michelle Obama talked about the enormous problem of drug addiction that afflicts both nations, health problems among children and youth, the situation of immigrants, the problem of obesity and diabetes.

The aim of the visit, according to the press office of the White House, will be well to "record of commitment" that Obama has assumed the administration to "advance an agenda of mutual respect between both nations."

According to information from Office of the President, some of the topics to be discussed between Obama and Zavala are child health, obesity and addiction among others.



Additional info: At News Minute by Minute.


Kathryn Bigelow makes history on film

The handover ceremony will be austere, in sharp contrast with the campaign that brought him to power. The president-elect of Chile, Sebastian Pinera Echenique, will formally assume his post on Thursday, in a rarefied atmosphere following the powerful earthquake that rocked the country just 12 days ago.
In a ceremony at the National Congress in Valparaiso city, the newly elected band will command the hands of Michelle Bachelet, who quit the palace after 20 years of government center and its alliance with a popularity rating soaring .
But not only honors Bachelet delivered her presidential successor, also in your hands will leave the enormous and costly responsibility to address the reconstruction of Chile in the post-earthquake.

Pinera, a conservative-leaning businessman multirrubro he won in the second round of elections last January, defeating the candidate of the ruling coalition, Eduardo Frei.

His victory was a sign of unprecedented democratic transition in Chile's recent history: marked the arrival of the center to power by democratic means for the first time in more than half a century.

With this merit prior coveted Piñera, at 60, start building your figure as head of state.

But now, the urgencies that left behind the catastrophe forced him to rethink their programs, at least in part, to face a daunting task: is projected to Chile was U.S. $ 30.000 million insumirá recover from the damage and delay four years, as many as its mandate.
Changing course

Even before you walk in La Moneda, the days of Piñera portend contrasts: the axis is moved from the proposed change, which was based on his campaign to reconstruction. From the ambition of boosting growth to levels heretofore unknown, to combat insecurity and create jobs, to work to put back in place as it was the earthquake.

The aftermath of the disaster plan emphasizes citizens face the emergency, restoring public services and infrastructure and restore the system of production in key sectors such as mining and fishing.

"It's time for solutions," Piñera said in presenting his program, "Scratch Chile.

"Pineristas" the Cabinet he has had to reassess priorities before formally entering into service.
"The president has asked all ministers to analyze our budgets and the first thing is to get to the emergency in time and solve basic needs that were not foreseen," he noted to BBC World Felipe Kast, who holds the portfolio of National Planning key to the management of reconstruction.
According to Kast, the new government is working on an adjusted forecast of how much cost this recasting of Chile bound by nature. The figure of U.S. $ 30,000 million seems plausible, though preliminary: equivalent to 15% of national GDP.

On your Piñera also considering options that were previously not in folder, such as the reallocation of resources from the National Regional Development Fund (FNDR) from the north to the most affected areas or the option of using the 2% constitutional right Chile's president to turn remedies for public nuisance.

"We want to rebuild, but better: move beyond what we have today. We are optimistic about how far we can get," he added.
(Programs)

From the same mouth Pinera heard a promise: the contingency will not turn back to government programs outlined before the disaster.

But can he fulfill it?
"The government has a mission to recover the prosperity to which Chile had become accustomed. The stability achieved presents a benchmark, a parameter which people want to be restored and the government will aim to achieve," he said to BBC News analyst Marta Lagos, MORI consultant.
Some people point out, however, will not be possible to meet those goals or address the reconstruction without sacrificing items originally intended to other sectors such as education or plans for poverty eradication.

"The promise of Piñera was the sustained growth, to transform Chile into a truly developed country. That dream is likely to collapse. Maybe I should get used to the idea of being remembered as the president who rebuilt the country, rather than one he did give Chile a leap forward into the future, "said Lucia Santa Cruz, an academic at the Universidad Adolfo Ibanez.
(Timing?)
However, many observers see the "softer side" of the crisis that receives Piñera in his assumption.

On the one hand, the need to restore and repair could revive the construction industry and become, in time, in a way to fulfill the promise of creating a million jobs that made the new ruler.

Close to their business colleagues, the situation is likely to expedite the closure necessary agreements with the private sector, which Piñera always thought seek cooperation.

Politically, the earthquake may also have paved the ground for more amiable coexistence.

"There is a political climate that is favorable. The policy of unity proclaimed Piñera was not going to give, but after the earthquake the Coalition took a 180 degree turn," said Rodrigo Alvarez Valdes, a researcher at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences .

"He revived a sense of community, of belonging to the same country, and I think that would be unacceptable that the opposition is so fierce in this context. That will certainly help Piñera," agreed Santa Cruz.

The first signs were seen even before the handover: Coalition leaders anticipate that Congress will support the new government initiatives. These include reconstruction laws, grants and restructuring of warning systems.

Piñera's government is underway and with it came to Chile when the repair.

Additional info: @ Noticias Minuto a Minuto.


Earthquake in Chile leaves at least 300 dead.