Chilean Ambassador, Mariano Fernández, had a succesful meeting with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. They spoke about the Chile-California partnership plan and the October (2008) visit of the Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to California.

The Ambassador of Chile, Mariano Fernández, had a successful meeting with the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the city of Sacramento (CA). The purpose of the meeting was to start conversations in order to reedit the "Chile-California" plan developed with particular success in the 60’s. This initiative responds to a previous conversation between the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alejandro Foxley and the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during the 2007 APEC Summit.  The goal is for Chile and California to develop a collaboration agenda in areas like energy, agriculture, education, environment and innovation. During the conversation, Schwarzenegger pointed out his excitement with the “Chile California” plan and let the Ambassador know his intention to visit Chile leading an economic delegation of Californian entrepreneurs.  The Governor plans to travel to Chile after the upcoming visit to California of the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, scheduled for next October. President Bachelet was invited by Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver to attend an historical reunion of thousands of women in Long Beach, California.

The Governor also showed his interest in making the President’s visit to California not only an opportunity to participate in the women’s meeting but also to head an important economic mission to reinforce the commerce and cooperation between Chile and the powerful North American state of California, whose economy is equivalent to that of France and larger than that of Italy, Spain and Brazil.

The visit of Ambassador Fernandez to California also included numerous meetings with authorities of the State of California (of its departments of energy, environment and international trade), with academic authorities of the University of California (in its campuses of Berkeley and Davis), and with entrepreneurs and organizations of the environmental scope of California. The US Ambassador in Chile, Paul Simons, joined the Chilean Ambassador during this visit which is regarded as a clear demonstration of  interest of the State Department in the success of the  "Chile-California” association and also as an eloquent signal of the excellent state of relations between the US and Chile.

Before meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger, the Chilean Ambassador visited the Speaker of the California Assembly, democrat Fabian Nuñez.

The Chilean Ambassador also met Fabián Núñez, Speaker of the California State Assembly.