Bachelet anticipates potential visit from pope on anniversary of peace agreement with Argentina

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SANTIAGO.- President Michelle Bachelet stated today that Pope Benedict XVI may attend the 30th commemoration ceremony of the intervention performed by John Paul II, which resolved a hostile conflict between Chile and Argentina.

While inaugurating an agricultural-gastronomic expo in the XII Region, the President said, "it will be 30 years since we signed the peace treaty and we are going to perform a ceremony in the common area between Chile and Argentina".

"We have invited the Vatican Secretary of State and, who knows, the Pope might surprise us and pay us a visit as well because we believe that here, in this region, we can truthfully say that we have committed ourselves to peace", she added.

Bachelet made these statements in Punta Arenas after traveling to the area on business that includes activities in other parts of the Magallanes Region.