The elected president of Chile, Gabriel boric, rejection the invitation of the outgoing agent, Sebastian Piñera, to accompany him on the summits of the Pacific Alliance and of the Forum for the Progress of South America (Prosur), the last to which he will attend as president before the end of his term, on March 11. After the controversy generated in Chile, due to the fact that the information had been leaked from the Palacio de La Moneda, Boric demanded that Piñera these issues are addressed directly between them or their teams, “and not through the press”.
The former student leader asked not to interpret his decision as a “slight” and assured that international relations will be “tremendously relevant” in his government. A week after his historic triumph, the polls are smiling at Boric: a poll by the consulting firm Cadem says that, for 55 percent of Chileans, the elected president will do “well” or “very well” in government.
“I have decided not to attend the summit to which he had invited us”Boric assured from “La Moneda chica”, the large house in Providencia from which the president-elect prepares his transfer of command. He stressed that “State and relations policies are tremendously relevant” for him and his team, and that he does not want “this to be understood, in any case, as a slight from the State.”
“Our priority today is in the formation of teams here in Chile”added Boric, who last week expressed his intention to make his cabinet known before January 22. The president-elect also highlighted that your government will give “priority” to the Pacific Alliance, and mentioned that he has already held talks with the leaders of other countries that are part of the bloc, such as the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Colombian Iván Duque.
The summit of Prosur
Boric specifically referred to the most controversial point of the invitation, which was the call to participate in the Prosur summit, which is held in parallel to that of the Pacific Alliance, January 26 and 27 in Colombia. The Prosur is a bloc founded in 2019 by countries governed by the right with the express objective of replacing the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), promoted in 2008 by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in a period in which several progressive leaders in Latin America came to power.
The foundation of Prosur was promoted by Piñera and Duque and the first summit, which was in Santiago, also included the then Argentine president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro and the Paraguayan Mario Abdo Benítez, among others. “Regarding Prosur, it seems to us that this is a specific agenda of President Piñera”considered Boric, who also pointed out that the outgoing president “has every right” to have promoted an initiative of this type.
“When it is our turn to assume, we will develop our regional agenda based on perspectives of collaboration for the tremendous challenges we have at the regional and global level: the fight against the pandemic, the climate crisis, the migratory crisis and cooperation both in the economic sphere and in the strengthening of democracy, “added Boric in his brief contact with the press.
The annoyance with Piñera
Piñera’s invitation to Boric to participate in these summits was known at the end of last week through the Chilean media that reported, based on sources they did not identify, that it was made personally on Monday the 20th at the meeting held between the two. The Boric team had already expressed discomfort over this leak of information that would have arisen from the Piñera government.
The invitation generated applause in the ruling party, which considered it a “republican gesture”, and annoyance in the groups related to Boric, who considered that it put him in an uncomfortable place. Belonging to the Pacific Alliance is not questioned in Chile, since both the right and the left see it as a beneficial commercial alliance in economic terms, but Prosur is not a consolidated bloc and an eventual participation would be read more in ideological terms than in terms of State policies.
“I have also stated (to Piñera) that this type of thing is important to be discussed in person and not by the press”Boric said on Monday. “We are convinced that in matters of State policies we must be careful not to enter into debates that harm the country’s image,” added the president-elect.
“I have also asked him to have those safeguards in the future,” added the youngest and most voted president-elect in Chilean history, who said: “We are going to seek the greatest possible integration in Latin America, with all who are available to do so, going beyond ideological affinities. “
Boric’s decision to decline Piñera’s invitation drew immediate criticism from the ruling party. “It seems to me that Boric is going to start his future government badly because they do not understand Republican gestures on the left “, said on his Twitter account the senator of the Independent Democratic Union, Ivan Moreira. On the other hand, the president of the Communist Party, William Teillier, assured: “Personally I have not made any recommendation, but my opinion was frankly that it was almost unnecessary to go. I believe that the measure you have taken is very fair, I fully share it“.
Positive indicators for Boric
Pending his inauguration, which will be only on March 11, the latest survey by the Cadem company indicates that 55 percent of Chileans believe that the future Boric government will do “well” or “very well.” Meanwhile, 26 percent of those surveyed believe that Boric will be “regular” and 13 percent that it will be “bad or very bad.”
The survey evaluated various attributes of the president-elect. About, 79 percent believe they are tolerant of diversity, 73 percent who know the needs of people, 66 percent who will be able to generate dialogues and agreements with all political sectors and 61 percent who will achieve peace and governance in Chile.
Among the priority issues of the next government, those consulted put in first place, with 27 percent, education, health and housing, while 21 percent mentioned the fight against crime, public order and drug trafficking . It was also registered a growth in the confidence of the population in the process of the Constituent Convention, what happened 52 to 57 percent.
The survey also evaluated the outgoing president’s performance. 69 percent of those consulted disapprove of Piñera’s work, while a scant 27 percent support him.
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