Claudio Alvarado, Minister of the Interior and since Tuesday spokesperson for the José Antonio Kast Administration, has stated that “we hope that, through the Public Account [on June 2, the first from the right-wing president], hope will return” to Chileans and “that this emergency Government will be able to explain well and make known what we are doing.”
Read more Trey Lyles, an NBA veteran from 0 to 100 in Europe
In conversation with Mesa Central of Tele13, the dual minister, who denied that there was hopelessness in the country, clarified that “when one constantly talks about emergency it is as if it were a permanent state of anguish” and concern, but that the La Moneda Palace would have urgency in carrying out plans “for the benefit of the people.” The dual minister’s statements are a response to the question of how he envisions the second stage of Kast’s Government, which on Tuesday – in its 69 days of management – made its first Cabinet change, the fastest since the return to democracy in Chile in 1990. The removal of the Minister of Public Security, former prosecutor Trinidad Steinert, responsible for advancing Kast’s main promise, crime control; and of his spokesperson, journalist Mara Sedini, who was involved in a series of controversies. But the ministerial adjustment, which was not planned by the president, was carried out after increasing pressure from the opposition and, also privately, from the ruling party for a shift in the Government.
The departures of the ministers have not only been seen positively in the political world, as a Criteria survey, released this Sunday, shows that 72% of people who learned about the Cabinet change agreed with it. The change of course occurs amid a collapse in the president’s popularity in recent weeks. In fact, the same survey revealed that his approval fell slightly to 37%, while his disapproval dropped to the lowest level in four weeks: 49%.
According to Alvarado, Steinert’s departure has the background of “giving more energy, more strength” to security matters, which will now be handled by Republican Martín Arraú, an engineer who until Tuesday was Minister of Public Works. “Decisions in an emergency Government have to be quick, that is the way to correct,” Alvarado said, who gained political weight after the ministerial restructuring.
Also, the Cabinet change was executed while Kast pushes his mega reform in Congress, which will face the Senate in June – where he does not have majorities – after having passed its first legislative process in the Chamber of Deputies, due to the support given by the populist-leaning Party of the People parliamentarians.
Read more Oksana Selekhmeteva, an overnight Spaniard: “It is the best country to be a tennis player”
Regarding Alvarado and the Ministers of Finance, Jorge Quiroz, and the General Secretariat of the Presidency, José García Ruminot, the greatest responsibilities will fall on them to carry out the Executive’s negotiations with legislators in the Senate. In the case of the Interior Minister and Government spokesperson, he is a politician of the old guard, a member of the UDI party, of the traditional right, and former minister in Sebastián Piñera’s governments (200-2014 and 2018-2022).
Alvarado said they are open to negotiating with the opposition to advance the bill and that “I have no problem with the discussion time being extended, if there is indeed willingness, will, and disposition for agreements.”
The dual minister assured that they will seek consensus in the Upper House, although he avoided being portrayed from his statements, in an interview with El Mercurio, of an alleged political tutelage from the Communist Party (PC) and the Broad Front (FA) towards the Democratic Socialism, an alliance mainly formed by the Socialist Party and the Party for Democracy, among other smaller forces. The statement strongly upset the left, who denied that the decisions of Democratic Socialism were subject to another political sector. Regarding this, Alvarado defended his position and assured that what he said was a “confirmation of a reality.”
Read more Libyan authorities detain 10 members of a caravan with aid for Gaza, including a Spanish woman
