With more than 60% of the votes, Ali Manouchehri’s victory in Coquimbo confirmed what had been known for months: despite the complex financial situation in which he received the port commune, his management managed to gain majority approval by part of the neighbors.
With a wide advantage over his contenders, which makes him appear among the most voted mayors in the country, in an interview with Diario El Día, Manouchehri referred to what will be his second period administering the municipality of Coquimbo.
Along these lines, he stated that he was interested in continuing with the policy of recovering public spaces now in the population sectors, promoting more sports and culture, and providing the city with better infrastructure.
On the macro level, he stated that they would work to turn Coquimbo into “the best commune in northern Chile.”
Also by the way, he had words for his critics, maintaining that lies and misinformation “was not the best strategy.”
-After the high vote you had, do you feel that the commitment to Coquimbo is greater?
“There is a responsibility to be able to respond to the broad support of the residents of this commune, but mainly to continue working alongside them. This is a response to a little more than three and a half years of work, where we listened to the citizens, we were present, we always tried to solve as many problems as they faced and I believe that this result is an example of what was done in this time and, without a doubt, the hope of what can be done in these next four years.”
-How and with what are you going to respond to all those people who voted for you?
“In the same way we did it during these three and a half years: working hard, being on the ground and not taking a toll on the Coquimbanos and Coquimbanas as previous administrations did. If there is one thing that has characterized us, it is that we are very hard-working and we are not corrupt, and the people reflected that in the vote over the weekend, condemning those who clearly presented complicated situations and sought to misinform the neighbors. “The people condemned them with this vote.”
-What will you emphasize for this second period?
“In transforming Coquimbo into the best city in northern Chile, hand in hand with improving the levels of happiness of our people, and I believe that to achieve that there are many things that we must improve, many things that we must do, but they will always go focused on Coquimbo becoming a different city and making its neighbors happy.”
-Do you believe that happiness for people is by creating more squares, recovering parks, or decorating the city?
“I believe that people’s happiness is associated with multiple factors. A family that sees their child develop in a destroyed space, in a multi-field without fences, without hoops, without soccer goals, taken over by criminals, I believe significantly lowers their standards of happiness. A family that doesn’t have a home, that has nowhere to live, of course, that lowers their standards of happiness. So, infrastructure works are associated with housing, with the recovery of public spaces, with improving the environments in the neighborhoods and I believe that this is associated with happiness. Why can some people play in a nice square and others unfortunately can’t? “I think we need to balance the playing field and make Coquimbo completely beautified.”
-That is, you would never install a Millennium Cross, a mosque or a building like the one you live in?
“It also improves happiness standards. I think that when a person has the opportunity to have icons that identify their city, make it bigger and associate it with a tourist development, I think that also allows people to be happier.”
-Now that you will not have to pay high debts, will infrastructure works begin to be seen?
“I believe that municipal resources are not only focused on what infrastructure means, but also on improving the quality of life of the neighbors, from covering a hole, improving a light fixture, or installing a security camera. This allows us to improve those levels. We intend to invest in transforming Coquimbo and that also has to do with infrastructure works, both on a low scale such as improving multi-courts, plazas, getting strongly into the neighborhoods, as well as the desire to leave greater infrastructure that allows us to position ourselves as a tourist city. important”.
-Where are you interested in starting to develop the city?
“From the neighborhoods. Starting next year, we are going to work very hard to improve the environment of the neighborhoods, to improve the quality of life of people from their public spaces, from security, but from an area of the use of new technologies, mainly in the recovery of the social fabric that was abandoned for decades.”
-Don’t you think the internal summaries that are still in force can divert your attention?
“I don’t think so. Today the institutions are doing what corresponds to them and we as a municipality are giving them everything necessary so that they are the ones who resolve the different situations. We also hope that justice will do its thing at this time with respect to what happened in the previous administration. I believe that citizens already need to know the truth about what happened in the previous administration. And the internal processes are carried out with total transparency, with the corresponding reservation and it is the prosecutors in charge who have to resolve whether there is any administrative responsibility for any event.”
-You still carry a backpack from the previous administration almost four years after taking office. When are you going to get rid of this one?
“We are going at a safe pace, solving those inherited problems. This has allowed us to show in this last year the capacity that the municipality of Coquimbo could have in the coming years to make the transformations that the people want, and financial management has been key in our management to be able to execute those improvement programs. ”.
-Crime has literally become a cancer in the country. How do you think the commune should be attacked? Will you look for any changes in this regard?
“We have been the municipality in the region that has invested the most in security and that has invested the most in providing tools to the police. When Carabineros required a mobile checkpoint to have greater coverage in Punta Mira and in the rural sector, the municipality purchased two mobile checkpoints. When they required mobile checkpoints to cover the waterfront, the municipality bought mobile checkpoints, and we have done so in response to any requirement to be able to deliver more and better supplies to the Carabineros. What is our work? Preventive work and how are we going to manage crime? Recovering the social fabric in the territories with sport, culture and support for the community.”
-Do you feel relieved that your opponents such as Felipe Velásquez or Guido Hernández will no longer be on the municipal council?
“I believe that citizens demonstrated in this election process that lies, misinformation, bad intentions, torpedoing the development of a commune for personal benefit was not a good strategy.”
-But do you feel relief?
“No, I never felt pressured by them. I think life always puts things in their place.”
-Don’t you feel that they were throwing the tablecloth off the table?
“I think it was their intention, but clearly they didn’t succeed.”
-In your first period you must have had a family cost. Are you prepared to lessen that impact?
“I am accompanied by a great woman in my life who allows me to develop as mayor in total tranquility, with the support that she plays the role of mother and father in my absence and also gives me the strength to be able to face these four years with the “The same courage, dedication and dedication to moving Coquimbo forward.”
-You, in a meeting to celebrate municipal official’s day, said that your campaign won over lies and corruption. What corruption were you referring to?
“To the corruption of both what is being investigated today in the municipality, of the people who committed those atrocities that ended up leaving Coquimbo on the ground, and of the people who were trying to return from the outside.”
-What do you think that the MOP has confirmed the implementation of a toll on the future ring road? What will happen to the people of Tongoy and Guanaqueros who will have to pay tolls in addition to what they already pay?
“We have carried out a constant fight. We have traveled to Santiago to raise the issue on several occasions about what the residents of Tongoy and Guanaqueros face, an unfair toll for people where unfortunately they do not have everything they need to develop their lives. Remember that we have a deficit in schools, a deficit in health care, a deficit in employability and these people are forced to leave those spas, permanently paying a toll in their daily lives. And today, adding another one, which means the ring road, I think would be a terrible strategy for the residents of the Coquimbo commune. But I understand that the toll would only be for those people who make the entire stretch from the entrance in El Panul to the exit in Las Compañías, which would allow the focus to be on the people who come in transit and not on the people who We live in the commune of Coquimbo. In any case, we are making inquiries to strongly oppose any type of toll by the residents of the commune.”