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It only remains to define his successor for the announcement to be made publicly, but the decision has already been made official within the Ministry of Health and in the government: Arturo Zúñiga, the second best evaluated figure in the portfolio, resigned from the Undersecretariat of Assistance Networks and is evaluating starting a parliamentary or constituent candidacy.
Close to the commercial engineer of the PUC, they report that with the creation of a network of laboratories, the expansion of critical beds, the purchase of equipment and the hiring of personnel for the manager of the integrated public and private network, a cycle was completed. “You feel that it is a good time, because the network has already been prepared and planning for the Coronavirus emergency has been set up and today there is no high-level contagion situation that prevents its departure, so you can close a cycle in good shape and think about their future ”, they comment from the Health portfolio, adding that “the decision could not be made before, due to the last powerful outbreaks, such as that of Magellan”
Zúñiga’s departure will occur amid a positive evaluation, both of his internal management – according to his boss in the Ministry of Health, Enrique Paris – and of public recognition, as reflected in the last Cadem survey in October, which evaluated the performance of the governance team.
In that poll, after Paris -whose management registers 63% approval-, Zúñiga is located with 59% support and 35% disapproval. Along these lines, Paris commented to La Tercera PM that “(Zúñiga) has been an excellent undersecretary, a loyal man, he has my full backing, he has done an exceptional job and the decisions he wants to make with his future, I respect them.”
The pediatrician highlights that, within the milestones of his work during the pandemic, “The strategy implemented by him, which was maintained over time, with permanent concern for beds, transfer of patients, purchase of ventilators, personnel contract. He met every week with the unions ”.
The numbers of the polls are also closely followed by the UDI, who see in Zúñiga a parliamentary candidate or even a constituent. For the undersecretary, meanwhile, it would not be decided and would bet on the next free days that will come – once his departure from the Minsal is completed – to define his interest in any of the positions.
Among those close to him in the ministry and also in the UDI, they highlight that in the face of the questions and complaints that have been filed against the government and Health officials, Zúñiga’s role has been “far from the eye of the hurricane,” since , on more than one occasion, the opposition critics have highlighted that the duplication of beds was complied with and that the problems of managing the pandemic are not rooted in the Undersecretariat of Healthcare Networks, but in aspects such as the count of cases, deaths or traceability.
Thus, the eventual criticism of the opposition to the authority could be endorsed by concrete facts and the milestone that the initial commitment was met: “There was no lack of bed or fan for any Chilean and in that the undersecretary can be calm. Your goal is accomplished “, details one of his collaborators.
The career in public service of the Undersecretary of Assistance Networks started in the Youth Service of Chile program of the Jaime Guzmán Foundation. And although he was never a member of the Union Movement at university, he was close to that ideology. In this context, and before being the chief of staff of former minister Jaime Mañalich, during the first months of the Piñera I administration, he served as health director of the municipal corporation of Panguipulli.
During the second administration, Zúñiga made up the “iron circle” of the former head of Health, and after his departure in June, the head of Healthcare Networks was taking a greater political role, for example, when he pointed out that “there were those who wanted us to fail in this pandemic”, or when he criticized one of the strips of the Approve for the allusion to an alleged lack of fans and the “dilemma of the last bed.”
The departure of the undersecretary also adds to the resignation of the former head of Epidemiology of the Minsal, Rafael Araos, which took place on Monday afternoon, who will now serve as an advisor to the ministry for Covid-19.
