President Gabriel Boric Font Tells UNGA that Chile Will Have a New Constitution, Guaranteeing Change with Stability Soon By Merco Press Merco Press, September 20, 2022

Chilean President, Gabriel Boric Font, giving a speech at the UNGA, September 20, 2022

 

Chile will have a new Constitution soon, Boric tells UN General Assembly

Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font Tuesday told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York that his country would have a new Constitution “shortly” after the Sept. 7 attempt to get a progressive text approved through a referendum failed to get past the vote of the citizenry.

 Boric told dignitaries from the world over that he was taking “with his eyes and heart wide open” the message of the people, but added that he was confident that a new Magna Carta guaranteeing change with stability would be approved soon.

The South American leader insisted that no country was exempt from mobilizations such as those that occurred during the “social outburst” of 2019. Those mobilizations, where “serious episodes of violence” and “uncontrolled repression” by security forces also occurred, were the beginning of an “intense political process” that continues to this day, an example of a “malaise” and a “weariness” that has “perplexed many observers.”

From that angle, Boric urged other governments to “anticipate” discontent and seek “greater social justice” in their own countries. As a result of that conflict, Chilean politicians came up with a commitment to “lay the foundations of a new social contract” and the people overwhelmingly supported the creation of a Constitutional Convention, which produced a document too progressive for its own good.

Boric admitted voters rejected the draft in a “clear way” and has pointed out that, although he was in favor of “approval” he does not take defeat at the referendum as his own failure. “A government can never feel defeated when the people pronounce themselves,” he said. It is time to look for “new formulas” to build new common ground, Boric offered other political forces in his country.

The president also reckoned the referendum's outcome had taught him to be “more humble.”

He also addressed current world events saying from the climate emergency to the “unjust war” in Ukraine, which is a cause of global destabilization, as much as the trade war between the United States and Russia or the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boric also underlined the crisis of Venezuelan migrants in South America and called for the release of Nicaragua's political prisoners. The South American leader, who earlier this week refused to receive the credentials of Israel's new Ambassador to Santiago, called the international community not to “naturalize the permanent violations of human rights of the Palestinian people” while admitting Israel's “legitimate right” to live within secure borders.

Chile will have a new Constitution soon, Boric tells UN General Assembly — MercoPress

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Chile: Argentine Ambassador summoned over radio statements

Merco Press, Friday, September 16th 2022 -

Chile's Foreign Ministry has summoned Argentine Ambassador Rafael Bielsa to convey to him that the Government of President Gabriel Boric Font finds some of his comments highly inappropriate for his role.

When analyzing the outcome of the Sept. 4 plebiscite where the proposed new Constitution failed to be endorsed by the majority of voters, Bielsa argued that the Chilean rightwing politicians had had things their way after lying to the people, which caused unease among local lawmakers who demanded the Executive to take action.

“It is not appropriate for an ambassador to give an opinion on the internal politics of the country where he is,” Chile's Foreign Ministry stressed after acquiescing to a request from Chile Vamos MPs.

Bielsa said in a radio interview that in Chile “the rightwing says things that are not true, but, despite not being true they are easily understood, and progressivism says things that are true, but in order to explain them it needsattention.” Bielsa added he hoped the new Constitution would be approved, which was also President Boric's desire.

UDI Senator Iván Moreira said he had formally requested Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola “that the Argentine ambassador in Chile be summoned” for his “gratuitous insults to a relevant sector of the population.”

“It seems to us that the government [of President Gabriel Boric] did the right thing by calling Ambassador Bielsa, who feels he has the authority to give an opinion on our internal politics, over to the Foreign Ministry. The government considered that the ambassador's statements caused discomfort and that he had gone too far in his political comments. In the same way that we condemn Jair Bolsonaro's accusations against Boric, as opposition we demand reciprocity from the government,” Moreira said.

“This ambassador has already committed several diplomatic incidents. We expect Ambassador Bielsa to behave as a diplomat and not as a representative of leftist guerrillas,” he added.

“In Chile, we understand foreign policy as state policy. And Parliament has not been involved in criticizing the Argentine government on domestic policy,” the Senator also underlined.

Chile's Foreign Ministry summoned Brazilian Ambassador Paulo Soares Pacheco on Aug. 29 last after President Jair Bolsonaro pointed out in a presidential debate that “[Luiz Inacio] Lula da Silva supported the candidate who in Chile set fire to the subway, and in Colombia the candidate who is in favor of freeing drugs and prisoners.”

Bielsa, a former Argentine Foreign Minister himself, has also been criticized for personally defending Argentine-born Mapuche leader Facundo Jones-Huala, who had been extradited from Bariloche to serve a nine-year sentence for a 2013 arson attack. Bielsa spoke on behalf of the detainee as he filed a parole request before the Temuco Court of Appeals. Jones-Huala is currently at large.

Bielsa also described the right-wing losing candidate José Antonio Kast as part of a “Pinochettist and rupturist rightwing” seeking “to dismantle the State” while expressing his concern over remarks from Kast advising “against Argentina.”

Chile's diplomatic front is also under flak over Boric's refusal to accept the credentials of Israel's new ambassador.

Chile: Argentine Ambassador summoned over radio statements — MercoPress

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