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The topic was not discussed at the usual meeting of the committee to face the coronavirus crisis, made up of undersecretaries; the ministers of health, Jaime Mañalich; inland, Gonzalo Blumel; of Education, Raúl Figueroa; and from the Segegob, Karla Rubilar, headed by the President Sebastián Piñera.
The controversies that Mañalich has faced during these days were not, according to those present, part of the matters addressed, despite the fact that yesterday, precisely, the headlines of the Segegob, Education and Interior distanced themselves from the statements of their health counterpart, who maintained -during a special virtual session of Congress- that it had been a “mistake” to suspend school classes.
Blumel by Mañalich: “The minister has exercised a very important leadership but the call is to avoid unnecessary controversy”
Figueroa responds to Mañalich’s statements and justifies closing schools: “Decisions are made with all the cards on the table and listening to all the actors”
Minister Rubilar defends closure of schools: “Of course it was not a mistake, we made a good decision”
His statements were poorly evaluated in La Moneda, as it contradicted what had been a determination backed by Piñera himself.
At today’s meeting, according to attendees, the President only asked the secretaries of state to have greater coordination to face the pandemic. However, almost at the end of the meeting he asked them to leave him alone with Mañalich, with whom -according to government sources- he conversed very closely.
According to the same sources, the Head of State made a “Wake up call” to the minister and asked him to He will take care of the tone of his statements.
These days, Mañalich has had to deal with questions from the opposition and the ruling party itself, mainly due to the controversy in which it was involved with the donation of mechanical fans from China; his statements regarding the press, and, yesterday, his statements on the suspension of classes. The latter, in fact, reactivated an old dispute that existed with the mayors, who at the beginning of the crisis also criticized the style of leadership of the Health Minister, especially due to the little information that they were accused of regarding the pandemic.
On this occasion, the annoyance of the communal chiefs was that, in the opinion of several of them, Mañalich gave false information about the vaccination processes. In particular, the councilors claimed that the Secretary of State had argued that the suspension of classes left children without vaccines.
In fact, in the morning Mayor Puente Alto, Germán Codina, indicated in Mega’s morning that “It is incredible that a minister comes out with a different opinion from that of the President and nobody removes him or scratches him on a large field that allows him to understand that he has to focus on health issues.”
In this scenario, after the appointment with Piñera, the Minister of Health was asked – in the Minsal’s daily balance sheet – if he did any self-criticism and if he was willing to step aside communications during the crisis.
Although the Secretary of State backed down in tone, he maintained his position regarding the suspension of classes. “It is known, and I have repeated it, in my opinion, that the appropriate time to finish or close the school was 15 days after what was done. However, that discussion was discussed with a group of ministers, with the President of the Republic, with the committee of experts, with representatives of the mayors, ”he said.
The holder of Health, in addition, he ruled out leaving the first communication line. Although he said that “I am fully aware of my shortcomings and of the few virtues I may have,” he stressed that “What I have absolutely clear is that this is the moment when I have to be in charge of the Minsal.”
Of course, he added: “I am sorry if there are people who have become offended. But I want to reiterate that it is extremely complex to be in charge of the health of Chile and all Chileans. It is a very heavy task on very weak shoulders (…) The crucial question is: this surgeon, if this doctor or this minister is going to be able to hit the crap or not? And it seems to me that this is the fundamental thing that has to be in public opinion. “
High sources of La Moneda affirm that For Piñera it is key to keep Mañalich in managing the pandemic. In Palace, in addition, although they recognize the communication problem of the minister, they emphasize his management and assure that it would be difficult to find another person who can get on the subject of the Covid-19, who has the information, contacts and experience of Mañalich. “He has a large current account with Piñera,” they emphasize in the Executive.
Yesterday afternoon, amid the controversy with the Minister of Health, the mayor of Central Station and president of Amuch, Rodrigo Delgado (UDI), Minister Blumel was contacted to ask him for an appointment and explanations for the sayings of Mañalich, which took place this morning.
At the meeting, the board of the agency gave the chief of cabinet information on vaccination, ethical shifts and food. This to give an account, as they say present, that the sayings of Mañalich would have no basis with reality.
The mayors insisted that they should be heard and asked that there be a coordinator between them and the Minsal. So, In the middle of the appointment, Blumel contacted his health counterpart and presented him with the idea, which the minister agreed to.
The communal chiefs proposed that it be the councilor of La Cisterna and militant UDI Alexis Flores Whoever plays this role, the one that, according to the government, still needs to be settled. Flores currently works in the Health portfolio as a “policy advisor” and is from Mañalich’s trusted team.
“We have agreed that we have to continue working together, we all have to work together (…). We have established a proposal that has been put before us, which seems to us a good idea, which I have personally discussed with the Minister of Health, who is have a special coordination link between Health and mayors from all over the countryBlumel said. He added: “All ministers have to exercise leadership, but in such a way that we avoid unnecessary controversies.”
In addition to rekindling a fight with the mayors, in the parliamentary world Mañalich’s sayings not only caused surprise, but, in many cases, annoyance. According to sources in Congress, Several were the complaints that Minister Blumel received yesterday from parliamentarians from different political sectors. The discomfort would also have been transmitted by some deputies to the Health Minister himself.
The same sources explain that the problem after the minister’s statements is that “Mess up” and “open a flank” which was relatively resolved: that of the mayors’ confrontation with the government over the situation of school establishments.
From the UDI, the deputy Jaime Bellolio -close to the head of Health and his team- highlights that Mañalich’s management as head of the Executive to face the health emergency shows positive figures. But, given what happened in the last hours, he emphasizes: “It is obvious that there are some statements that do not help this same fate. I think the minister has done a good job, but I do not share his views regarding the work of the press, nor do I share the idea that it was wrong to suspend classes; That was a measure taken by the Ministry of Education and the President of the Republic based on health and social background and I am left with that decision which is the official one ”.
Of course, despite the annoyance, there seem to be no two voices in Chile. Let’s go in the sense that Mañalich will not leave the cabinet. The reasons? For some, his character “works” to manage the emergency, while others highlight his close relationship with Piñera, the trust that exists between them and, therefore, the “Wide sleeve” available to the minister. In fact, they say that the President “does not challenge him”, but rather they talk “as friends” and, in that logic, Piñera asks him to avoid conflicts.
In that sense, the deputy Andrés Celis (RN) He assures that “Mañalich is immune”, because “he knows that the results support him and he knows that asking him to resign would be a tremendous irresponsibility, from the point of view of the result that he as minister and the Ministry of Health as a whole has until now”.
During the morning, in any case, the president of the UDI, Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, He commented on the latest controversies of the minister in the morning of Channel 13, when the program addressed precisely his future in the cabinet and his closeness to the Head of State. In this regard, although the senator did not express any particular position, she commented on the close relationship that Piñera had, in his first government, with the then minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter, noting that, despite that, he ended up changing it because “problems” were being generated.
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