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More than three interviews conducted in recent days by the former Minister of Health Jaime Mañalich, calling on the government to postpone the April 10 and 11 elections for health reasons. A determination that ended up being announced yesterday by President Sebastián Piñera, who decided that he will send a bill to postpone the elections to next May 15 and 16.
But not only about that Mañalich spoke. The former minister – and recognized close to the President – also questioned several of the measures announced by the Executive to contain the pandemic that caused direct discomfort in the Government Palace.
To start with, Mañalich stated that it is insufficient to establish transitional hotels when travelers arrive from abroad. “Thinking about the volume of people who arrive, the sanitary residences that we have, pretend that all the people will fit in the remaining places, this if we do it seriously it will be very difficult to get people to do it, they will stay three or two days. So that? To ensure they have a negative PCR? Absurd! ”He said on Channel 13 on Sunday.
In addition, he called for more “radicalism in the issue of borders” and made a proposal in relation to closing some with certain countries. “I would give a week for the right to repatriation of all nationals who want to return to Chile and then I would suspend all flights coming from Peru -where 40% of the infections in Lima are due to the Brazilian variable, we do not know how much of that variable it circulates here-, from Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, of course, and some European countries ”, said the former Secretary of State.
On that same occasion, in fact, Mañalich was asked about the tone of his criticisms and replied that “I would not call them criticisms, I would call them contributions, which go along the lines of accentuating some things that are easier for me to say, such as For example, intervening the clinics every time they do not provide the width for intensive treatment beds ”, he said.
The former head of Health – who left office in June last year – assured that his interventions and public criticism were not a surprise for the current head of the portfolio, Enrique Paris. “I constantly dialogue with Enrique Paris. I am not talking to you without first having spoken to him and, in that context, there is no need to make a mess, an artificial conflict as is so common in our country, where there is none, “he said.
Although in the surroundings of Paris they confirm these dialogues -in which they have addressed the difficulties in the traceability process, the identification of new variants, among other matters-, and they assure that the current minister is not “bothered” by the recommendations of his predecessor, in the Palace they recognize that their interventions have caused annoyance in some sectors of the government. In fact, on Friday, according to government sources, President Sebastián Piñera commented on the interventions of the former minister, giving an account of his discomfort.
Some in the government affirm that they consider it inappropriate for Mañalich to be “setting” the measures that have to be taken to face the crisis, especially at a time when the Executive sought not to delay the elections and ended up being forced to establish a position. due to the pressure that began to exist due to the increase in positive cases of Covid-19.
In addition, they transmit that Mañalich is “breaking” some codes that the former ministers do not get involved in the management of the current holder of the portfolio. “Did Andrés Chadwick appear talking about security? No ”, they emphasize in La Moneda, to account for the discomfort generated by their sayings.
In Chile Vamos, some voices convey that Mañalich only entangled the scene even more and some more critics point out that it is not appropriate for him to speak when he left the ministry amid strong public questions about his management.
However, some privately raise doubts about his role and assume that Mañalich speaks on behalf of Piñera and his statements are to “pave the way.” In fact, some in the opposition made a similar reading and, even when their first statements appeared last week, in the direction of postponing the elections, some center-left leaders contacted ministers of the political committee to ask if that was the position of the government, which was discarded.
In fact, in Palacio they flatly rule out that this is the case and emphasize that Piñera and Mañalich have conversations, but to a lesser extent than before. Of course, they do not specify if the relationships are still good or have been stressed. What is clear, the same sources add, is that “the President does not lose himself with respect to the authorities. His counterpart in Health is Paris, period ”.
But it was not only public interventions that Mañalich had to fix his position, he has also done so in private meetings. On Saturday, for example, he met virtually with the National Renovation committee of senators, an instance in which, according to those present, a lapidary diagnosis arrived, reinforcing the idea that the elections had to be postponed.
There, Mañalich raised the difficult scenario about the critical beds, the additional complexity due to the different strains of the virus that exist and the need for the Ministry of Sciences to take charge of that edge of the investigation.
In fact, after the meeting with the former minister, the president of RN, Rafael Prohens, sent a message on Saturday to the party leaders indicating, as one of the factors to support the postponement, is that Mañalich told them that “the issue does not it looks encouraging, because the Sinovac vaccine would not have a good coverage in the Brazilian strain, that is why he suggests running them for a long time ”.
The meeting was coordinated by Senator Francisco Chahuán, who assured this medium that “we had a meeting with former Minister Mañalich and the bench asked for his appreciation and what the impact of the election could be on the increase in infections.”
In the environment of the former minister, they transmit, without going into details, that he meets with many people from different sectors and does so with whoever asks, as long as it is confidential and virtually.
Asked about it for his interventions these days, Mañalich affirmed: “I spoke in private with the government authorities and later in public. The moment required talking, I started talking three weeks ago, at a specific time (…). It is a moral duty (due to the health situation), and I did it in private, considering that the government needed help. As long as I do not have any official position, I can say things that others will not say ”.
