Once a year, every Chilean President addresses both the nation and Congress in a live broadcast.

In the speech, they make a summary of the initiatives and plans executed by the Government and set the agenda for the year ahead.

On Saturday 1 June, Sebastián Piñera will travel to Valparaíso, 115 kilometers west of Santiago, to fulfill his yearly duty, an occasion that could look very similar to the US State of the Union Address.

Mr Piñera, a conservative businessman, has asked Congress to change the time of his speech from midday to 8.30pm, local TV prime-time, so as to make the event “more accesible” to the public.

The government press secretary, Cecilia Pérez, and their liaison in Congress, Gonzalo Blumel, confirmed that they met on Wednesday with the president of the Senate, Jaime Quintana, to inform him about Piñera’s wishes.

Mr Quintana said that he would discuss the petition with committees.

The proposal found support in the House, with some Chile Vamos members (right-wing) willing to accept the changes.

The speech is considered to be a State event: presidents sleep at Cerro Castillo, one of their private residences while in power, where they gather with their cabinet for an official photograph and leave for Congress in a Ford Galaxie given by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968.

Members of the Armed Forces and the Uniformed Armed Police line the streets on the way to Congress and thousands of supporters -and detractors- are allowed to watch the procession, behind fences.