Chapter 1339: Mutual Flattery
Supporting Chile’s legitimate interests does not mean supporting Chile’s interests. After all, Chile is not yet considered “one of our own” in the eyes of the East African government.
This is very important because Chile has conflicts with almost all its neighboring countries. Peru, Bolivia and Chile have fought each other before, and Chile and Argentina have also had territorial disputes.
Unless Chile is willing to become a political and military ally of East Africa, East Africa will certainly not clearly stand up for the Chilean government.
Even if the Chilean government is ignorant of the current situation, the East African government will certainly not mind supporting Chile's enemies, thus triggering a new round of regional conflict.
Of course, judging from the current relationship between East Africa and Chile, the probability of this happening is extremely small, unless the next Chilean government completely becomes a puppet supported by the Americans and its foreign policy takes a 180-degree turn.
If this really happens, it can only show that the East African government is incompetent. After all, the United States can support its own puppets, and East Africa can do the same. In the overall competitive environment, the advantage is even on the side of East Africa.
…
The conversation between Reni and Galliger, to a certain extent, represents the ideas of the East African Central Government and the Chilean Government, but diplomacy is no small matter, so it is relatively conservative and rigorous.
The negotiations between the lower-level regional governments of the two countries, namely the cities of Luanda and Punta Arenas, were much more active and proactive. For the cities of Luanda and Punta Arenas, their main task is to promote the economic development of the city, and they care relatively less.
Luanda Mayor Horngren is painting a rosy picture for Punta Arenas Mayor Valdivia.
"Mayor Valverde, we are both in the same industry. I believe you have seen the strength of our city of Luanda. It is no exaggeration to say that Luanda is a relatively famous city in the world. In the entire South Atlantic coast, only the capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, and our own city of Cabinda can be compared with it."
What Mayor Horngren said is not an exaggeration at all. Cabinda and Luanda in East Africa, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Buenos Aires in Argentina are the four most developed cities in the South Pacific today.
Among them, Buenos Aires in Argentina has a population of over 1.5 million, making it the largest city on the entire South Pacific coast. In comparison, the other three cities are all in the hundreds of thousands. In 1910, the population of Rio de Janeiro was only slightly larger than that of Cabinda and Luanda.
However, population size does not reflect the level of development of a city. Although Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro have large populations, Cabinda and Luanda in East Africa have their own advantages in industry, education, and medical care.
Besides, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro are the capitals of Argentina and Brazil, two major American countries respectively, so the fact that Cabinda and Luanda can compete with the capitals of the two countries is quite telling.
Moreover, East Africa's economic development model is very different from that of Brazil and Argentina. In the past, the economies of Brazil and Argentina were concentrated in the capital or surrounding areas, while the economy of East Africa is relatively balanced, with basically all cities that can take on the main responsibility in the inland or on the east and west coasts.
In other words, the capitals of Brazil and Argentina developed by concentrating a large amount of their own resources. Of course, this statement is somewhat one-sided.
Because Brazil and Argentina are immigration countries, and immigrants will give priority to the most developed regions of the two countries as their immigration destinations, such as Buenos Aires, which brings together Africans, Spaniards, Italians, British, Poles, Russians and other immigrants.
The governments of Argentina and Brazil have not formulated relevant policies for immigration, which has led to an increasing concentration of population in the capitals of the two countries and relatively slow development in other regions.
Therefore, on the South Pacific coast, in terms of economic strength ranking, except for Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, the next five cities are all cities on the west coast of East Africa, and other cities on the west coast of East Africa are also developing very rapidly.
As the third largest city in the South Atlantic, Luanda has strong industrial strength, comfortable climate, convenient transportation and other characteristics, which naturally make the mayor of Baltimore, Chile, very envious.
He followed Horngren's words and said: "Mayor Horngren, Luanda's development can be said to be a model for all cities in the South Atlantic countries and even in Chile."
"It's embarrassing to say that our city of Punta Arenas was built almost as long as yours, but in just over a decade, you have left us far behind. Whether in terms of population, economy, industry and many other areas, Luanda deserves the title of the pearl of the South Atlantic coast."
"If I could become a member of this beautiful and developed city, I would probably have the sweetest dreams at night."
Horngren was a little flattered by Baltimore's compliments, but of course, this did not affect his rationality. As the mayor of Luanda, he had long been immune to the flattery of his subordinates.
Under the influence of alcohol, Horngren put his hand on Mayor Balteviha's shoulder, as if they were old friends, and said to Mayor Balteviha: "Brother Balteviha, you don't need to belittle yourselves. In fact, compared with Luanda, I think the development of your city of Punta Arenas is a truly remarkable achievement."
"You know, Punta Arenas is almost close to the South Pole. Many areas around it are covered with ice and snow, and the terrain is very complex. It is a miracle that Chile can build a city there."
"Although Luanda has become a world-class city through urban construction in recent years, this is due to the benefits of the overall environment. There are many cities in China that can rival Luanda, and many that have developed faster than Luanda, not to mention that Luanda has its own advantages in terms of policies, climate, and geographical location."
“So in my opinion, Luanda’s development is not something to be proud of. Instead, we should learn from you for being able to create a city in such a difficult environment.”
Baltimore waved his hands and said, "You are flattering us. We are very clear about our capabilities. We have no competitors on the Magellan Strait route, so Punta Arenas has been able to develop because of its geographical advantages."
"And, to be honest, the size of our Punta Arenas is really not that impressive. In your country, it is just a medium-sized town. In your West Coast province alone, there are many towns that are larger than Punta Arenas."
Horngren said to Baltimore: "That is also the result of your own efforts. After all, from the perspective of natural conditions, Punta Arenas has no foundation for urban construction."
"Of course, all this is just empty talk. For our two cities, economic development is the most important thing. Luanda is the gateway to the west of the empire, and Punta Arenas is the gateway to the east of Chile."
"In other words, we are neighbors next door to each other. As long as our two cities work together to build a trade route from East Africa to Luanda to Punta Arenas to Chile, we can all benefit from it."
“The trade volume between Chile and East Africa is not small, and it is growing every year. At the same time, Punta Arenas is not only the gateway for Chile to reach East Africa, but also, to a certain extent, an important gateway for the entire west coast of America.”
“With that said, you and I know how great the potential of this trade route is. Therefore, for the future of our two cities, Luanda and Punta Arenas must establish and deepen cooperation in economy and industry. This will further enhance the importance of our two cities in the country and the region, and lay a further layer of insurance for the future economic development of our two places.”
As the mayor of Luanda, Horngren is naturally very envious of the markets in Chile and the west coast of South America. After all, compared with these regions, Luanda is undoubtedly an industrially and economically developed area.
Moreover, Luanda is not without competitors. Cabinda, Kinshasa, Lobito, Benguela and Walvis Bay in China are all competitors of Luanda. Therefore, Luanda attaches great importance to this cooperation with Punta Arenas and tries to seize the market opportunity.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
