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Since he ceased to be Labor Minister, Nicolás Monckeberg has avoided speaking to the press and, once he was nominated last January as Chile’s ambassador to Argentina, he chose to keep a low profile. However, these days he has had to deal with tensions between the two states due to comparisons arising from the handling of the pandemic crisis and the controversial meeting held by the Argentine President, Alberto Fernández, with leaders of the Chilean opposition. . For this matter -and without wanting to enter Chilean contingent politics-, the also former parliamentarian RN answered this interview in writing to Third.
This week he made efforts to try not to escalate a conflict between Chile and Argentina, which ended in a meeting between President Fernández and President Piñera. How did you rate the episode?
In the end, what is relevant about this episode is that it gave way to a frank, transparent and constructive relationship between the two presidents and I am sure that this will allow us to reap good things in the future, especially because we have a very common work agenda. important for both countries.
Fernandez he said to the Chilean opposition that they had to settle their differences to “regain power”. How do you take it?
I am left with the message that both presidents gave this week and that will mark the future, and that is that, despite their political differences, they expressed their clear and determined will to work together at a unique moment in the history of the planet. This is very relevant for two countries that are not only linked by history and geography, but also by the future.
Is it common for leaders to participate in meetings of this type with the opposition of a government?
Respect for the countries’ internal policies and processes is a general principle in international relations. However, I want to highlight something positive: the presidents took only three days to resolve the impasse with height and frankness.
The organizer was former Chilean candidate Marco Enríquez-Ominami. How is the relationship he maintains with Fernández?
Marco Enríquez and President Fernández have a relationship of trust and friendship that they have built several years ago, when together they formed the Puebla Group. Today, Alberto Fernández is the President of all Argentines. As ambassador of the State of Chile to the State of Argentina, I represent all Chileans and for this reason it is not for me to be a commentator on the political or less personal relations that the authorities of the governments have.
In general, how do you see the relationship between Chile and Argentina?
We have a historic opportunity, due to the unique context of this pandemic that we will need to get out of together, not only because we share 5,000 km of the border, but also because we must together push for the recovery of our economies. Argentina is an important commercial partner of Chile and, therefore, we have a joint work agenda that we cannot delay, especially in terms of energy, trade and connectivity integration.
Do you think that lhe relations between both countries Have they been affected after the defeat of Mauricio Macri? He was close to President Piñera.
One of the things that President Piñera really cares about and has shown in fact is not to confuse political relations with state relations. For him, the relationship between presidents transcends governments and specific political signs … I give you an example, if Uruguay is part of the Pacific Alliance today, it was because of the joint work of President Piñera with President Mujica.
In his particular case, he had not wanted to speak after his departure from the Ministry of Labor, why?
It is not my style to leave a public office and then do personal catharsis by the media. One goes to the public service to serve, not to appear. The fundamental value when one works in a government is loyalty and that implies committing to teamwork, and when one leaves, that same loyalty means not becoming a commentator on what those who continue do.
How did you take the nomination to be ambassador to a leftist government?
For me it is a great honor and also a challenge to represent Chile in Argentina. Not only because it is our neighboring country, with whom we have a close and important relationship, but because it is a country from which we have much to learn and also to contribute. Whether it is a left or right government is not an issue, here it is about state relations. In addition, nothing is further from my way of being than typecasting in the idea that relationships should be built only with those who think like you.
During his tenure, not only did the episode of Fernández’s meeting with the opposition occur, but also the comparison he made with Chile to confront the pandemic. How did you take that?
In the past, Latin American countries spent decades comparing each other and that only paralyzed us. Each country has its own identity, its culture and the system that it has wanted to give. The important thing is that a spirit of collaboration and less of comparison prevail among each one of them, and, of course, that is what will help us to emerge better from this pandemic.
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What has it been like for you to experience the pandemic in Argentina? There they have more restrictive measures, total quarantines.
We arrived with my family before quarantine. The first days were with many greetings and work meetings with ministers and parliamentarians, which are now replaced by videoconferences. Something that is important to highlight is people’s respect and compliance with restrictions and quarantines. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that the federal system in Argentina does that a large part of the President’s political management must be done with the governors and mayors, and in that he has had good management, as with the opposition, which In general, it has shown a spirit of collaboration.
Do you inform President Piñera about how Argentina faces the pandemic?
One of the most active contact groups that I have is the one that the President formed with ambassadors and some diplomatic missions in which he asks us to give him all the information on the plans, policies, results, strategies of the countries and analyzes them in detail with his team. I am sure that the weekly survey and analysis by the President has helped him a lot to make good decisions and have had good results so far.
What issues are you currently focusing on in the Chile-Argentina relationship?
Chile and Argentina are in a position to take an important step in our joint work agenda. This not only means thinking about what one country can export to the other, but the invitation is to go further to work on what together we can deliver to the world. For this, it is key to continue making progress in improving interconnection and transit at our border crossings. The President has asked us for a special impulse to advance in energy integration and in the work agenda on climate change, the protection of the environment and projects such as bi-national parks, among others.
How is your relationship with the Argentine ambassador to Chile? It has not yet arrived in the country, what is the reason for the delay?
With Rafael Bielsa we have an excellent relationship. As soon as I became ambassador, I had the opportunity to talk with him and I understand that, unfortunately, as a result of the pandemic, he has not been able to travel to Chile. I think it will in the next few days. I can assure you that Chile will have a great ambassador for Argentina, because he is a very prepared person, an admirer of the society and culture of our country.
Differences are also seen to face the economic issue in the context of the pandemic. How do you see the management of Argentina versus that of Chile?
It is not good to make comparisons. The strategies of each country are different, because they also respond to different realities in demographic, population and economic terms. The truth is that until today both countries have achieved promising results and that is why this week I contacted specialists from both countries through an online seminar to exchange their results and experiences.
There are those who say that the role of the State must be further promoted, while others the free market. What do you think?
Experience shows us that the path of statism, economic isolation and border closure adopted by many Latin American countries after the wars of the last century was a serious mistake that plunged poverty, populism and finally authoritarian regimes. Meanwhile, other Anglo-Saxon and European countries that maintained an open economic system, with freedom of trade, progressed and developed. It is important that now we do not stumble on the same stone of believing that the pandemic is a sign that statism works better than freedom. The public does not end with the state. How have Chile and other countries that have been celebrated for their valued mass diagnostics policy achieved this? Implementing a large public network of private and state institutions. Otherwise this goal was impossible. What this pandemic shows is not that a bigger or smaller State is needed, but a more agile and efficient State.
In Chile, the President’s handling of the crisis has been criticized, which indicates that the economic has been privileged over health. Is there a dichotomy there?
Quite the contrary: precisely what has stood out most in Chile in publications, universities and at the WHO is that it has simultaneously managed to contain the speed and number of infections, achieving a mortality rate of the lowest in the world. Along with this he was able to implement, thanks to responsible economic management, the most robust monetary support plan in the region, which we hope will be essential to stop the increase in poverty and especially the inequality produced by the closure of high schools, schools or the freezing of companies.
Regarding Argentina’s participation in Prosur, do you expect Fernández to continue being part?
We hope that Argentina continues to contribute. Prosur is a forum that does not respond to any ideology. What he seeks is to allow the democratic countries of South America to collaborate and act in a coordinated manner.
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