RAMALLAH, January 2 (JMCC) - Chile, which boasts the largest Palestinian population outside the Arab world, is considering recognizing a Palestinian state, reports Global Post.

The powerful Palestinian community in Chile is lobbying the government to recognize the state of Palestine with its 1967 borders, following the footsteps of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador, which did so last month. Uruguay said it would recognize Palestine in early January and Paraguay, El Salvador and Peru are poised to do the same.

Chilean president Sebastian Pinera met with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Brazil yesterday.

Shortly before Christmas, dozens of members of Congress across the ideological divide — many of them of Arab origin — introduced parallel motions in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to approve “the recognition of the Palestinian State based on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, alongside the State of Israel.”

“We are proposing something we believe is extremely reasonable, respectful of international law and in line with United Nations resolutions, said Congressman Marcelo Diaz, president of the Chamber of Deputies’ Foreign Affairs Commission.

Palestinian diplomatic offices were opened in Santiago in 1994, and Chile has an embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Chile has long recognized the right to an independent Palestinian state, and Pinera said in November that he will uphold that position. But he's unsure about whether to endorse the 1967 borders.