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

You will never solve the American problems just by printing money.

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.

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.

I would say that the U.S. has overlooked Latin America. Their priorities have always been somewhere else. And that is a problem and that is a mistake.

On one hand, it is very important that democracy and human rights be defended across borders. But it is also very important to respect the right of each country to choose its own path.

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.