The Government of Chile today decreed national mourning and the organization of state funerals for former president Sebastián Piñerawho died this Tuesday in the Los Ríos Region, when the helicopter he was piloting plunged into the waters of Lake Ranco.
(You can read: Sebastián Piñera, former president of Chile, died in a helicopter accident)
“He will have all the Republican honors and recognitions he deserves,” said the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Carolina Tohá, in a brief appearance before the media from the Palacio de la Moneda, headquarters of the Presidency.
(We recommend: Sebastián Piñera, the key figure of the right in Chile in the 21st century)
We want to “express our shock at the tragedy, send a hug of solidarity to the family, he was democratic president of Chile on two occasions and will have all the recognition and honors he deserves.
“President (Gabriel) Boric instructed a state funeral, to declare national mourning and to send our solidarity and support directly to the family,” Tohá added.
(See also: This was the accident in which the former president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, died)
President (Gabriel) Boric instructed a state funeral, that a national mourning be declared and that our solidarity and support be sent directly to the family.
Piñera, twice president (2010-2014 and 2018-2022), was the first right-wing president brought to power by popular election after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
According to testimonies collected by EFE, after the helicopter fell, three people were afloat, including a minor. The former president was at the controls of the helicopter, which plunged into the lake shortly after taking off. The weather conditions were unfavorable.
(Also: Sebastián Piñera died: this is how they say goodbye to the former president of Chile who died this Tuesday)
Piñera was returning from a lunch with one of his friends, businessman José Cox. According to the main hypothesis, when the device went down, the former president was trapped by the seat belt and could not get out of the helicopter, as if his companions did.
Sebastián Piñera (i) and Gabriel Boric (d).
EFE/CHLE PRESIDENCY
The former president, who had a doctorate in economics from the prestigious American university of Harvard, was an astute businessman who amassed a fortune in banking and companies in various sectors.
Enthusiastic and always active, he had turned 74 on December 1 and was known for piloting his own helicopter.
(Also: Sebastián Piñera had already generated controversy for piloting his own helicopter)
According to friends who were in Lago Ranco, the former president was spending a few days on vacation with his wife Cecilia Morel and some of his four children and nine grandchildren.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With information from EFE and AFP
#Chile #decrees #national #mourning #state #funeral #death #Sebastián #Piñera
