King Philippe and Queen Mathilde departed for Chile on Monday morning in the first Belgian state visit to Latin America in 60 years. The visit, focused on economic cooperation and space research, includes stops in Santiago and Antofagasta and will conclude on Friday.
Originally scheduled to depart on Sunday, the royal couple’s flight was delayed by 24 hours due to technical problems with the government plane. As a result, the official programme has been shortened by one day.
The last state visit by Belgian monarchs to the region dates back to 1965 when King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola toured Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. However, Chile is familiar territory for King Philippe, who led missions there in 2002 and 2011 before his accession to the throne.
A key moment of the trip, which was initially planned for 2020 but postponed due to the pandemic, will be Wednesday’s visit to the European Southern Observatory (ESO), an intergovernmental astronomy organisation co-founded by Belgium.
Eye in the sky
The King and Queen will tour the Paranal Observatory, over 3,000m above sea level in the Atacama Desert. There, they will view the Very Large Telescope, comprising four 8.2m mirrors, which has been operational since 1999.
The couple will also visit the construction site of the European Extremely Large Telescope, which ESO describes as the “largest eye in the sky”, with a planned mirror diameter of 39m.
The King and Queen will also visit the University of Liège’s Speculoos project, which uses six robotic telescopes to search for rocky planets around the coldest stars in Earth’s cosmic area.
Remembering Chilean refugees
Another highlight of the visit will be Tuesday’s reception of Chileans who fled the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, who seized power in a coup on 11 September 1973.
On that day, 106 people sought refuge at the Belgian ambassador’s residence in Santiago. Supported by the Belgian government, they were later able to leave the country safely. Over the years, Belgium welcomed around 5,000 Chilean refugees during the dictatorship, which lasted until 1990.
The reception will take place in the presence of the King, while the Queen will visit the Coaniquem Institute, which provides free treatment for children with severe burns.
Economic ties will also be a key theme during the visit. In 2024, Belgium exported goods worth 645m euros to Chile and imported around 380m.
On Thursday, the King and Queen will visit SQM lithium refinery in Antofagasta, the world’s largest. Lithium is vital for producing batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones and other electronics. SQM maintains strong ties with Belgium, especially through the port of Antwerp, which serves as a gateway to Europe. The company also works with Limburg firm Veldman, which has built a storage facility in the region.
Accompanying the royal couple are around 20 business leaders and 10 academic representatives, as well as Foreign minister Maxime Prévot, Science Policy minister Vanessa Matz, Brussels minister president Rudi Vervoort, Walloon minister president Adrien Dolimont, minister president of the French Community Elisabeth Degryse and Flemish minister of ports Annick De Ridder.
