The chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, has come this Monday, your change of Cabinet, 10 days after the outbreak of the protests in Chile that have left at least 20 dead and hit the popularity of the agent, which is located in a historical 14%. The president has made moves in eight portfolios, including the Interior and Finance. With this decision, seeks to be covered to address the larger political and social crisis that the country lives since the return of democracy in 1990. The Communist Party and the Broad Front of the left looking to the output of Piñera with the presentation in Congress of an indictment constitutional, while for Tuesday it has called a rally outside The palace of la Moneda.
The main movement in the Cabinet is made evident with the days: the representative does not have left another option that to remove the position of minister of Interior and Public Security. Andrés Chadwick Piñera is the cousin and confidant of the president, which had refused to pull out of The Currency on other occasions. The charge reaches Gonzalo Blumel, 41-year-old, who until now served as minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, a position that coordinates the relationship between the Executive and the Congress.
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The second profound change has been the dismissal of her minister of Finance, Felipe Larraín, after turning on this, the wick of the indignation of the citizens. When announcing the CPI numbers of September, Larraín made an appeal “to buy flowers”, whose price had fallen, at “the romantics” who were demonstrating. It was seen as a provocation by a part of the population that feels the margin of the growth path of Chile in the last 30 years.
The changes coincide with the worst time for the popularity of Piñera. According to the survey Cadem, released over the weekend, the president of chile, has a backing of 14%, the lowest figure that has been a head of State since 1990. 78% of the population rejects it, surpassing the record that until now recorded Michelle Bachelet, who received 18% support and 68% disapproval in march of 2016, during his second term. The very low endorsement of Piñera shows that both the president and his Government are at the center of the civil unrest.
The handling of the crisis has not helped. The delay in taking the temperature to the protests, initiated at the beginning of October by the increase in the ticket of the metro, the exit of the president to eat pizza when the crisis had already erupted, the decision –discussed still– enact the state of emergency in different regions, and the declarations of the own Piñera of Chile “is at war”, are some examples. His request of forgiveness in the face of citizenship, which continues to be manifested in the streets, and the announcement of a package of social measures, there has not been enough.
After the peaceful protest last Friday —that only in Santiago de Chile, brought together 1.2 million people— Piñera lifted the state of emergency in the country, which restricted the freedoms of movement and assembly, and kept the country under military control. But, although the country has seen some signs of greater normality in the transport and in the opening of local commercial or suppliers of fuel, the Government faces a new complication: the allegations of violations of human rights that are said to have committed the police and the Armed Forces. According to the National Human Rights Institute (NHRI), have been registered 1.132 injured people and 3.243 detainees, including 347 children under age. The agency has already submitted 101 legal actions: five complaints for murder, 18 for sexual violence and 54 for torture, among others. Meanwhile, the Government expects the official visit of the High Commissioner of United Nations for Human Rights, led by Michelle Bachelet, the predecessor socialist Piñera.
Pinera has also made changes to the spokesman of the Executive, where it leaves Cecilia Pérez and enter Karla Rubilar, who until today served as superintendent of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, and had a central role as the Government’s spokesperson in the midst of the protests. At the same time, the General Secretariat of the Presidency is in charge of Philip Ward, who until now served as minister of National Assets. In that portfolio, you happen the lawyer Julio Isamit, of 30 years, a former leader of student protest movements of 2006.
The chilean president has punished the disconnection of their ministers with the citizenship. Another that exits the Cabinet is Juan Andrés Fontaine, who led the Ministry of Economy. Its permanence seemed untenable since made an appeal to the inhabitants of Santiago to get up even more early to go to their jobs and, thus, not be affected by the rise of the subway fare. His words were a provocation to the citizens that, on average, can take up to two hours to transfer each morning. That office will be assumed by the commercial engineer Lucas Palacios, who was number two in the Ministry of Public Works. Piñera has also removed Cristián Monckeberg of the Ministry of Labour, which will be replaced by one of their partners, the lawyer María José Zaldívar, who until Monday was the deputy secretary of Social welfare of the same portfolio. In Sports, Piñera has relieved the journalist Pauline Kantor to install to Cecilia Perez, who was serving as spokesman and part of the ring of trust of the president. Piñera, as on other occasions, he has stood out completely from the Cabinet.
