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Monday night, in an interview with Channel 13, President Sebastián Piñera announced the sending of the project that will seek to extend the State of Catastrophe –that expires on March 13, after a year in force– and that, for the same reason, it needs the permission of Parliament to start a new stage.
But, in his speech, the President superimposed the reasons that would support the need to continue under the State of Exception to the conflict that exists in the South Macrozone of La Araucanía, first, and then to the need to protect the measures sanitary. This is how he indicated that “to combat this (the South Macrozone conflict) it is necessary to maintain the State of Exception. We are going to extend the State of Catastrophe that expires on March 13, and which also has to do with the pandemic ”.
A “mistake” by the head of state –this is how some qualified it, in quotes– or a calculated one fail, considering that in the middle of an election year and to the doors of the election of constituents, mayors, regional governors and councilors, each of the signals that point directly to their electorate, would have “a reason for being.” And it is that before the decision of La Moneda – for now– to ignore their sector, which openly calls for a State of Siege to be declared in the area, having superimposed the reasons for an exceptional state on the sector’s security measures, are for some, without a doubt, more than a mistake, an attempt to look good “with God and the devil.”
But following this line of argument, that maneuver had greater secondary effects than those budgeted for, and that led a large part of the opposition to interpret his words as “evidence” of the fear that had been warned for days and that it would have to do with the true reason of the Executive: a measure of social control and order, rather than a sanitary one.
In this way, and before the warning that the words of the Head of State had given the opposition sector a reason of force to unite, it is that on Wednesday morning three of the ministers of the political committee deployed to try to “redraw” the official speech and, thus, try to convince Parliament that the primary reason to continue under a State of Exception is the COVID-19 pandemic, and no other.
That, because the Palace is aware that under such a premise it will be very complex for any parliamentarian to resist approving the project, since “it would take away tools to fight the pandemic”, and also considering that the numbers in the months of February and March continue to be within a complex scenario of contagion at the country level.
And it was in this way that, in the course of different activities, both the spokesperson, Jaime Bellolio, as well as the ministers of the Segpres, Juan José Ossa, and of the Interior, Rodrigo Delgado, sought to reinstate the discourse in the field of health. In the case of the Palacio spokesperson, he indicated that “quarantines, sanitary cords and sanitary customs, the Step by Step Plan would fall, without the State of Exception, which is only as a result of the evolution of the pandemic, not it has to do with the security situation in La Araucanía ”.
For his part, the head of the Segpres pointed out that “the truth is that the State of Exception allowed the Government to adopt certain measures, which we believe it will eventually need to adopt in the future. Therefore, we hope that it is not a question of an ideological discussion and we hope that these things are not confused. ”Meanwhile, Minister Delgado indicated that“ we should not politicize, from the security point of view of the South Macrozone, which may be a discussion of a situation that is required for all of Chile in sanitary matters (…) As long as we do not finish the vaccination process, we have to continue in a State of Exception that allows us to take all the necessary measures to take care of our population “, he concluded.
It should be remembered that on February 22, the Ministry of Health announced the delay of the curfew by one hour, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., this just when it was beginning to discuss whether or not it was necessary to maintain the State of Exception.
The dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration of the Central University, Marco Moreno, pointed out that “La Moneda and the President should have sought support and legitimacy to extend the State of Catastrophe. That is what political management consists of. But citizens and key actors (including the opposition) found out from the press of the decision, without the mediation of a government communication process. “To this he added that” the objective of the extension of the State of Catastrophe should always have been in providing health security to citizens As a result of Piñera’s presidential drive for protagonism and hyper-leadership, it was established that what the Executive really seeks is to resort to a legal tool to control the situation in La Araucanía. things are what they are and not what they seem ”.
No compromises
In La Moneda they assured that, as of today, they have “water in the pool”, considering that it is only a simple majority that is required in both houses of Congress to approve the presidential initiative, and with the understanding that, unlike other times, it has the full backing of its conglomerate.
In this way, and beyond the grandiloquence of some statements that have emerged from the opposition and that have conditioned support for this measure to consider the elimination of the curfew, or the impossibility of militarizing La Araucanía, among others. What is certain is that, in formal terms, what the Executive is going to do is send, in advance, a detailed report with the results and reasons why an extension of the State of Exception would be required.
It is not considered, as some in Parliament claim, that it is the President or a minister who appears to give an account of the work carried out.
Regarding eventual concessions, the answer they gave in the Executive is that there would be a willingness to dialogue, but not to make concessions. In the first place – they specified – because they are convinced of the need to have tools such as the curfew to control the pandemic. And, secondly, because there would be no formal mechanism, so, in accordance with the law, the bill will be entered and Congress will have five days to approve or reject it. Not voting on it means it is approved.
But beyond a position that seems set in stone on the part of the Government, the debate is still present regarding whether or not a State of Exception is really necessary to maintain sanitary control measures.
In this context, the senator PPD and president of the Senate Health Committee, Guido Girardi, indicated that “after a year the chain of contagion has not been cut, because the Government does not provide social assistance so that people remain in their houses. Half of COVID positives are being isolated, and tracing, searching, and matching close contacts is less than 20%. None of these measures need a State of Exception to be applied, nor is it required for awareness campaigns that reinforce social distancing, frequent hand washing and the use of masks ”.
Defense analyst Richard Kouyoumdjian pointed out that “we do not need a curfew to restrict nighttime activities, since there are other ways to achieve the same results and, finally, we continue to treat Chileans like young children and make them pay fairly. for sinners. It is time for individual freedoms to be respected. We continue to provide military solutions to all of Chile’s problems. It is one thing to use the logistical and organizational capacities of the Armed Forces, and another is to have Chile under military control for a whole year and more ”.
He added that “the State of Catastrophe Exception allows the Government to establish a curfew, something that the Health Code does not allow. The cost of doing so is that they must appoint heads of Defense for the regions and RM, and involve the Armed Forces in controlling the restrictions imposed on the population. That said, there are other ways to achieve the same effects, such as the regulation of gauges and their supervision by means of the police, municipal and Minsal personnel, and by means of observation, such as drones and aircraft with night capacities ”.
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