The death of the former president Sebastian Pinera when the helicopter he was piloting crashed in the south chili It shocked a country that is mourning the major fires in Valparaíso and is now preparing state funerals for the first right-wing president since the return to democracy in 1990.
Former President Piñera’s cause of death “is asphyxiation by submersion,” Los Ríos regional prosecutor Tatiana Esquivel said in the city of Valdivia, 850 km south of Santiago.
In that city, the coffin was accompanied by some of his four children, several of the former president’s nine young grandchildren and his widow Cecilia Morel, an AFP team observed at the scene.
At 74, the businessman was one of Chile’s most millionaire men and was known for becoming the first democratically elected right-wing politician to come to power in 2010 after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
The president, who served two terms, 2010-2014 and 2018-2022, will have a state funeral by Friday.
The funeral procession carrying Piñera’s remains left Valdivia to the applause of admirers who had come to watch the carriage pass.
Among people of all ages, Olga González, 61, left her house to say goodbye to the street: “He was a great president. “Someone who always fought for his country, never had ‘no’,” she told AFP.
His supporters, as well as his political rivals, have highlighted his ability to engage in dialogue and his commitment to liberal democracy.
“He was a democrat from the very beginning and really strived for what he thought was best for the country,” said leftist President Gabriel Boric, who succeeded Piñera in power in March 2022.
Among the management successes that marked Chilean society, what stands out is the agility with which he drove the country’s reconstruction after the 2010 earthquake; the determination to rescue alive the 33 miners trapped 700 meters deep in northern Chile for 69 days that same year; and the rapid purchase of vaccines from China in 2020, making the country one of the first to immunize the majority of the population against Covid-19.
The former president had barely started piloting his helicopter – one of his greatest passions – after a lunch with friends and his sister Magdalena Piñera. He was traveling with her and two friends when they had an accident in the middle of an afternoon of heavy rain and fog.
The other three passengers survived virtually uninjured, while Piñera was trapped. The fuselage was left 40 meters deep where the Chilean Navy was able to recover his body, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) said.
In a message on the social network The Uruguayan president recalled the Chilean government’s support for the rollout of vaccines against Covid-19.
“I met President Piñera a few years ago. He always had a positive attitude towards Uruguay and personally. As an example, it is enough to cite its support in the logistics offered for the arrival of vaccines during the pandemic.”
“My condolences go out to the Chileans and their families. RIP,” concluded the Uruguayan president.
“Peace be to his soul!”, wished Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, said that he greatly appreciated the time he spent working with Piñera over the last decade: “I have seen firsthand his commitment to the country,” he emphasized.
Argentine President Javier Milei and former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica joined the condolence messages; from Bolivia Luis Arce, the Peruvian President Dina Boluarte and from Spain the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
SPRING: AFP