VIP visit at Paranal (part 17)

The “Foundation Ceremony” for the Paranal Observatory took place on Cerro Paranal, on 2nd of December, 1996. This occasion was attended by VIPs including the President of Chile, Mr. Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the Royal couple of Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Chile, Mr. José Miguel Insulza, the Ambassadors of the Member States, as well as members of the ESO Executive, ESO staff and the Paranal contractors’ workers. This event began a further fruitful era of cooperation between the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and its host country Chile.