The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, celebrates this April 11 a month of having assumed the reins of the country. In these almost 30 days, the president has had to overcome a series of challenges in the internal politics of his country (related to the economy, protests and security).
(Read here: Boric grants the first presidential pardon to a young man with terminal cancer)
On the other hand, you already had your first international tour in Argentina, where he met his counterpart Alberto Fernández. In that meeting, both leaders strengthened the ties between the two nations.
These are five keys that have marked Boric’s first four weeks in power.
The Mapuche conflict
In perhaps one of the most critical points that have emerged during this first month is the Mapuche issue. In fact, the president has promised to deal with the conflict with this people, an issue that will be crucial from now on.
Boric said that he will seek solutions through “dialogue” and ruled out that the indigenous demands could question the territorial integrity of Argentina, in statements to the press this Monday in Buenos Aires, during his international tour.
“This is not an issue that has to do with Argentine territorial sovereignty, it is an issue, and we have to take charge, of a conflict between the Chilean State and the Mapuche nation people. And we are not going to ignore that,” Boric assured. .
“We have decided on a path that is that of dialogue and that dialogue is going to bother many, who believe that things can be achieved through violence or through confrontation,” the president remarked, more than two weeks after one of its ministers was received by shots fired into the air in a Mapuche area.
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This is not an issue that has to do with Argentine territorial sovereignty, it is an issue, and we have to take charge
Boric’s statements come after his Interior Minister, Izkia Sichescaused a stir in Argentina for mentioning the term Wallmapu, which refers to the territories inhabited by the Mapuche on both sides of the border of Chile and Argentina.
“There has been an attempt to raise a controversy. None of us has questioned the territorial sovereignty of our respective countries and we have no pending issues in this regard,” Boric said.
One of his first decisions as ruler was to order the withdrawal of the military forces that had been operating since last October in the regions of La Araucanía and Biobío600 km south of Santiago, by order of his predecessor Sebastián Piñera to stop arson attacks attributed to radical Mapuche groups.
In mid-March, an attempt by Siches to dialogue with Mapuches in the conflict zone in Araucanía failed after the minister was received with shots in the air.
In the last decade, Chile has seen an escalation of violence with arson attacks amid a lack of solution to Mapuche demands.the largest ethnic group in the country and whose ancestral lands have been reduced due, among other things, to the expansion of the timber industry.
(Read here: Boric calls for regional integration for causes such as the Venezuelan crisis)
First protests in his government
Another of the points that have marked these weeks of government were the two student protests in Santiago. When the president had barely been in office for 18 days, a student protest in the capital led to riots and street blockades.
Groups of schoolchildren and hooded people staged disturbances in the vicinity of the presidential palace of La Monedaafter a call to commemorate the “Day of the Young Combatant”, in memory of two brothers assassinated in 1985 by agents of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
When the president had barely been in office for 18 days, a student protest in the capital led to riots and street blockades
At the end of March, when the demonstrations took place, the main artery in the center of Santiago remained cut off after sporadic clashes between students and hooded men and special forces agents.
The March 29 demonstration paralyzed a part of the Chilean capital againfour days after another march of students who protested to demand an increase in the amount allocated to them by the State for their food, and which resulted in a young man being shot by a Police officer, who used his weapon after being attacked by protesters.
Although the protest was not against his government, the massive protests that Chilean students usually call is a fundamental point that should continue to be taken care of.
(In context: Chile: new riots with students block downtown Santiago)
The economy
On the other hand, the combination of stagnation and inflation that is shaking Chile, once considered the “Latin American oasis”, It distances the desire for equality that arose from the 2019 protests and puts stones in the way of the agenda of profound reforms that the new president has promised.
The country is facing a sharp rise in prices, which is leading the Central Bank to take unprecedented measures in more than 20 years, such as raising the reference interest rate from 2.75% to 7.5% in less than six months.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) accumulated 7.8% in 12 months in February and the issuer expects it to reach 8.2% this year, well above the tolerance range. Added to this is the fact that the Chilean economy gave its first signs of deceleration in February, a “perfect storm”.
The Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (Imacec) corresponding to February, which is considered a preview of monthly GDP, disappointed the markets with a drop of 0.7% compared to January and registering the lowest year-on-year growth in almost a year (6 .8%).
(In other news: Boric signs Chile’s adherence to the Escazú Agreement in environmental defense)
Tour in Argentina
On the international stage, Boric already had his first approach with Argentina.
During a tour that ended this week, the Chilean leader asked Fernández to strengthen the economic and commercial link with his country in a meeting with businessmen in Buenos Aires.
We have the ability to start a cycle of bottom-up collaboration, and when I say start I want to be careful, because I’m not saying start from scratch.
“We have the possibility of starting a cycle of ascending collaboration, and when I say start, I want to be careful, because I’m not saying start from scratch. As a State policy, we are starting our mandate based on what those who preceded us did,” said Boric, and valued that in the last year the bilateral commercial exchange “increased significantly”.
Boric stressed the convenience of moving towards a cycle of collaboration and stability based on “the promotion of multilateralism and productive development with a cross-cutting gender approach and putting environmental protection at the center.”
The Constituent
Another fundamental issue that has urgently entered the agenda is the little approval that the new Constitution that is being drafted has so far.
Although until now only sections have been known and the complete draft that will be voted on in September is missing, the polls that warn of a possible rejection of the Magna Carta set off the alarms.
Boric, in fact, advocated this Tuesday for broad agreements and for “modifying what needs to be modified” to achieve a new Constitution that is “a meeting point” for Chileans.
“The opinion polls (…) are worrying and are a wake-up call for all of us who trust this (constituent) process and those of us who believe that this process is necessary,” Boric said when appearing before the press during the visit. of State that makes Argentina.
The president, who took office on March 11, acknowledged having spoken with people who in the 2020 plebiscite voted in favor of starting the constituent process “and who today have doubts.”
The opinion polls (…) are worrying and are a wake-up call for all of us who trust in this (constituent) process and those of us who believe that this process is necessary
“Those doubts cannot be simply ignored. The discussion is not only communicational, it cannot only be blamed on the external, there are also responsibilities of those who believe in the process. And my call is to seek the greatest transversality and breadth possible to build a Constitution that is a meeting point,” he asserted.
Boric wished that the plebiscite in which it will be decided whether the new Magna Carta is ratified “is a meeting point between Chileans and Chileans”.
“And that implies that space must be given to reflect, to think so that the agreements are broader than what they have been until now to modify what needs to be modified and I have deep confidence in the convention,” he concluded.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With AFP and Efe
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