It was feared that the same thing would happen on March 11, 2010. That time, the ceremony handing over the command from Michelle Bachelet to Sebastián Piñera was interrupted by aftershocks from the devastating earthquake that had devastated Chile days before. The locals present hardly moved, but among the foreigners there were gestures of alarm, with the exception of the then Prince Felipe de Asturias, who showed his cold blood. This time, Chile is emerging from another earthquake: the outbreak in 2019 of an unprecedented, violent and massive social protest. Its repercussions were profound: on the one hand, it led to a Convention to write a new Constitution from a blank page, elected in a democracy, with equal representation and reserved seats; on the other, it motivated young people to vote in the elections last December, giving victory to Gabriel Boric, and, with him, to a new generation of leftists forged in the student and social struggles of the last ten years.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the ceremony for the transfer of command on March 11 passed without replicas of any kind. The republican script was carried out perfectly, as the now King Felipe VI, who was once again present, can attest.
The face of the outgoing president, Sebastián Piñera, accompanied by his family and ministers, showed the joy of having managed to steer the ship to port despite the gigantic storms it had to face, including the pandemic. In his heart, surely, he must have felt the satisfaction of not having followed the siren songs that called him to deviate from the institutional course to restore the order broken by the wave of protests at the end of 2019 and of having bet, instead, for seeking a way out through the constitutional process. In his innermost heart, he must have felt one of those unspeakable pleasures when he saw that Boric swore and not who his opponent was, the extreme right-wing Kast: this leaves him before history as the link that gave way to a young generation in which condenses the best that the new democracy has produced.
Boric’s gestures towards Piñera were affectionate. The latter, relieved, was dismissed with warm applause. The incoming president, without a tie but dressed in a blue suit, standing on the head and somewhat tense due to the new situation, looked at his family who had come from Magallanes, as well as at his fellow fighters, now ministers, as if to say to them: “Look where we have arrived”.
The day was loaded with fine symbols destined to mark the entrance to a new era: a Rapanui chief of protocol dressed in the traditional style; a woman driving the presidential vehicle; a President who takes an oath on behalf of the people, shakes hands with the soldiers who are under his command and bows before the statue of Salvador Allende before entering La Moneda. Always present the desire to bring power closer to the people and emphasize that a new air enters.
As it began to get dark, Boric went out to the balconies of the presidential palace to address his first words as the new president of the Republic to the supporters who filled the Plaza de la Constitución. There were no surprises. He insisted on being part of a collective project heir to struggles that have lasted for centuries. He noted that he will advance the reforms “step by step.” He called for cultivating mutual respect and agreeing on a new Constitution that is “a meeting point and not a point of division.” He reaffirmed his defense of human rights “regardless of the political color of the Government that violates them”, as well as his “profoundly Latin American” vocation.
“From where we spoke today, rockets entered yesterday,” said Gabriel Boric with emotion, who at 36 years old opened the doors of La Moneda to a generation that was born in democracy and had the opportunities that, despite its defects, it opened for them. Now to trust that they do not forget it.
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