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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.

Chile has done a lot to rid itself of poverty, especially extreme poverty, since the return to democracy. But we still have a ways to go toward greater equity. This country does not have a neoliberal economic model anymore. We have put in place a lot of policies that will ensure that economic growth goes hand in hand with social justice.

Chile's mines are very dangerous; the country has a lot of earthquakes.

This is not the Chile we want to build.

I have written about Chile extensively, and therefore I have read many books on the subject, mostly for research.

I find it interesting that many of the people who want to restrict fossil fuels live in well-developed countries where abundant and affordable energy is readily available.

The greatest natural resource our country has is not oil. It's not gas. It's not coal. It's the genius of our children.

Mining created Chile. The story of men who go down into the mountain and chip away at minerals in the darkness and then suffer an accident that leaves them at the mercy of that darkness is part of the DNA of Chile, an integral part of the country's history.

Every country has rich people. But only a few places have achieved a vibrant and stable middle class. And in the history of the world, none has been more vibrant and more stable than the American middle class.

I have lived in Chile since 1996 and reported from Chile since 1989, so I know the nation better than my native Massachusetts.