Chile isn't the biggest, richest or most powerful country in the world, but we should dedicate ourselves to transforming it into the best country in the world. We don't have a single minute to lose.

Business is a useful tool in politics, but it's not enough. You need much more than to be a good businessman, to be a good politician.

I deeply believe that marriage is by nature between a man and a woman, but that conviction does not prevent me from recognising that other forms of affective relationships exist.

Economic and financial crisis are getting much more usual, and they are not confined to a given country but they immediately spread all over the world, and you have to be prepared for that.

Chile is not a rich country in terms of gas, or oil or coal, but we are extremely rich in terms of the energies of the future.

To have a stable economy, to have a stable democracy, and to have a modern government is not enough. We have to build new pillars of development. Education, science and technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, and more equality.

I grew up middle class. My father was a public functionary who didn't leave an inheritance, just debts.