The presidential urgencies of Desbordes to compensate for the time lost in his fleeting passage through Defense

They wanted to bring even people in buses. They canceled it because with the virus on top it was a bad idea. Likewise, a group of the RN Youth and some of their most loyal coordinated to receive him at the exit of the Palace, because the overflows unconditional supporters of the recently resigned Defense Minister are very clear that he must put on the candidate suit right now and race against the clock to win the pre-presidential terrain that he could not conquer as he would have liked in the 4 months and 17 days that leave him the medal for the shortest in that position.

So much so that the first urge you have Mario Desbordes Jimenez (52) is to configure different teams to put together a campaign that has to start immediately and at the same time fight on several fronts: climb in the polls, survive that untamed jungle that is his party, gamble (and make no mistakes) in supporting candidates for the constituent and municipal elections – subject to RN not losing points and not being charged later – and facing a Presidential primary that we still do not know if it will be with three, four or five competitors.

His people expected to flesh out a command and teams in January, but since the times are over, there is no one there who does not say that now that is his pressing priority, and that he will spend the time-out of the end of the year parties, in addition to taking advantage of as much screen and microphone as possible. Everything came over him because, in the end it was an annoying President -according to Palacio- who imposed that he leave today Friday and not next Monday, as the former deputy wanted. He told you yesterday, before the ceremony in the Army. Desbordes did not like it.

Piñera – the intimates of the RN acknowledge – did not want the noise to continue for longer to have a minister resigned by the media days ago. The president, they detail in the Palace, was outraged that they both had an agreement for him to leave in March, that later they would hurry due to the disorder in the party, and that their government was already bracketing too much with so much chained crisis to also take care of this. Others comment that in addition a table was assembled where those who appeared deciding were others and not him, just when he accuses a support of 7%.

The salient acknowledged when saying goodbye in the Patio de los Cañones that “the President is absolutely right, an inappropriate question is beginning to occur” and even said “tells me Mario, make a decision: either you are a minister or you are a candidate, or you are a minister or you are in contingency“. He acknowledged that “the deadlines and days have been set by the President”, that “It was not my decision” and that “there was already too much noise.” But, that “he has not shown any discomfort to me.”

Piñera played in the Blue Room the letter of the manual phrases: that “I thank you very sincerely”, that “I recognize and appreciate your ability, dedication, commitment and vocation of public service.” He highlighted the “collaboration of the armed forces” in the plebiscite and in the constitutional state of exception and even -all a record in such a short time- “the development of a new national defense policy.” Her future? He only said in generic terms that the ministers who left (in the plural, one came out) “take on other challenges.”

Beyond how the relations between the President and the now former minister who signed at the end of July as part of an operation to quench the crisis in Chile Vamos and the government, aggravated by the first withdrawal of 10% of pensions -the that Desbordes supported early-, time will tell how the now candidate will manage to campaign away from a government that is leaving and with the meager support already known.

Returning to the urgent, first is to buy time. Between the overflows They now recognize something that he himself confessed earlier in the intern that weighed on him. That as a minister he could not polish the position and earn points thinking about the presidential, a field that was opened to him when Manuel José Ossandón was out of the game. It weighed him down, and this they heard him say, that instead of going up in the polls, I was going back. It was repeated in the environment over and over again the age old question of whether by taking the position he had made a bad deal and if he squandered what he had won after the 15 / N agreement that made the plebiscite possible.

One of his own recognizes that he could have benefited something if the Armed Forces had had to go out to control excesses, and that there Desbordes could have shown “political criteria.” But it didn’t happen. It was a step through Defense without getting on the Mowag.

After this page, you must now assign roles and put together a staff for the campaign. Some of the ground were advancing his closest ones, starting with the philosopher, academic and columnist Hugo Eduardo Herrera, his advisor, and Pablo Matamoros. The latter was a digital advisor to the Presidency in Piñera Part I, He is a director of the marketing consultancy AMNA and its enthusiastic advisor. Both, together with the president and co-founder of Chile Mujeres Veronica Campino, they will be in charge of a personal to draw the programmatic proposals of the new candidate, relates one of his unconditional.

Other voices emphasize that the “political instinct” of Desbordes is now urgent to give it content and support in different areas, such as the economy and a long list.

“For a long time, at least I and with Mario have been working on a political proposal. Some time ago we made a constitutional document with Rafael Prohens, and those three axes are the bases for a political proposal. It’s not that Mario is improvising: he’s prepared ”Herrera says.

Camilo Morán, his former campaign manager to deputy and who replaced him in Congress, details that “The important thing now is the deployment of Mario accompanying the candidates for municipal and constituents. We have several battles here, some electoral and others intellectual and we have to win them all. For that we have the best presidential candidate in Chile Vamos ”.

Morán is part of what they hope will be a political team, in which they list – others say – the Undersecretary of Crime Prevention Katherine martorell, to the Undersecretary of Segegob Emardo Hantelmann and the Undersecretary of Agriculture José Ignacio Pinochet. They also include RN leaders Andrés Maureira, Javier Molina, Víctor Blanco, Samuel Valenzuela and Mayor José Miguel Arellano. And to others such as the members of the Political Commission Guido Benavides and Rodrigo Barco. And of course, his loyal deputies like Andrés Longton and others.

With them and others and others he will face January and February. His people say that they will not wait until March to campaign municipally (the election of councilors will be the yardstick that measures whether or not RN continues to lead the coalition in that) and constituent, because time is running out. They still have to designate a campaign manager, a communications manager, a parliamentary coordinator, and define what roles each will have in the apparatus.

His first hurdle will be to have him proclaimed smoothly in the General Council of RN on January 5, leaving Senator Francisco Chahuán on the road., with the penalty that it will be telematic and not in person. The question is what the dissent will do to Desbordes, because one of his closest ones says that, knowing the party, “anything can happen there.” Anyway, he said today that “If I become a primary RN candidate, it is to win.”