The Message of President Gabriel Boric This June 1 has allowed the government coalition to try to strengthen its story about current Chile, which in some way represents a historical vision and a proposal for the future. That is the general rule of presidential messages from the 19th century to today. The political scenario was interesting in the National Congress: the Senate was chaired by an experienced leader of National Renewal, while the Chamber of Deputies appeared led by an active figure from the Communist Party, electorally small but extremely influential.
The moment not only serves to render an account of the political and administrative state of the nation, or to make announcements about real or supposed future achievements, but it is much more than that. In practice, it is also an opportunity for the rulers to establish their position on the development of the country and the respective historical times in which they have lived.
The first decades under the Constitution of 1833 served to establish the idea of Chilean exceptionalism, to which the President himself appealed. Jose Manuel Balmaceda in 1890, just a few months before the outbreak of the civil war: “We lived an hour of public quiet and activity in the political circles of Congress,” and then stated that Chile had been an exception in both Americas, as a country without wars. civil wars, coups d’état or constitutional changes.
In the 20th century both Jorge Alessandri as Eduardo Frei Montalva They noticed signs of institutional deterioration, while Salvador Allende He announced the Chilean path to socialism in 1971 and 2 years later warned of the danger of civil war. The general Augusto Pinochet He took advantage of September 11 to present the constitutional itinerary and the meaning of the economic reforms, while from 1990 onwards the international reintegration of Chile, the consolidation of democracy and certain economic and social advances were essential. President Sebastian Piñera He spoke about the challenges of the Bicentennial and the real possibilities of overcoming poverty and achieving development.
For all these reasons, in President Gabriel Boric’s speech on June 1, the key is not in the explanation of some things that have been done or the reiteration of some promises. The central thing – and to a large extent it is what has been seen in recent days – is determined by the vision of the country of the Frente Amplio and the Communist Party, which are the axes on which the Government of Chile is ideologically structured. In other words, the key is in an adequate synthesis between the Government Program and the Constitution of the Convention, defeated on September 4, 2022. The rest refers to the possibilities and the correlation of forces, not to the desires and aspirations. of the ruling sector.
In this sense, it is worth taking into account some considerations. The first is that The ruling generation aspires to a structural transformation of Chile, although his position and results have been poor in the 2 years since Gabriel Boric arrived at La Moneda. This is based on the conviction that Chilean society is deeply unjust, the product of an imposed and illegitimate economic and social system, which has generated deep inequalities, marked by a group of powerful people compared to large majorities outside the privileges.
All of this, which could originally be blamed on Pinochet and the civilians who accompanied him, actually had broader support and was consolidated under the Concertación governments, between 1990 and 2010. The meaning of the October 2019 revolution was to put put an end to these and other abuses and change the history of Chile in the last “30 years.” That was the same meaning that the emergence of the Frente Amplio generation and the leadership of Gabriel Boric had.
For this reason, the message of this June 1st must be read in a broader dimension. On this level, the contrast that has sought to be imposed between the government of President Sebastián Piñera and previous ones stands out especially against the current Administration, which has managed – in the opinion of the ruling party – to order or stabilize the country, its borders and even public security and family economy. Left-wing ministers and parliamentarians have been very clear in repeating these ideas in recent days and, in some way, they hope that the repetition of this speech will generate a reality.
In any case, from the beginning of his speech, President Boric set certain guidelines: he spoke of the objective of establish a welfare society in Chile, recognized President Sebastián Piñera, who died last February; and reiterated the need to reach major agreements along the lines of what his Government promotes.
In terms of tone, he clearly resumed the political initiative and was able to establish certain axes that will begin to be discussed with greater success. Regarding Chile, he said that it was a country that had great international prestige that spanned decades. In other words, he made a more conciliatory speech, with an emphasis on crime and some signs of unity towards the left, such as the promotion of the abortion law. With everything, It is a more nuanced speech, far from the refounding spirit of its political project, the revolution of October 2019 and its failed Fundamental Charter.
The President concluded with a reflection that, made 5 or 6 years ago, would have done great good and perhaps would have prevented some evils:
“Sometimes, I look with frustration at those who seem to want to aggravate problems, not solve them; to those who refuse to find solutions to try to prove they were right or to earn some points in the weekly survey. I think that all of Chile would be happy if we put aside our anger and focused, collaboratively, on resolving issues of national importance. Let us not be blind: if the population does not appreciate changes that improve their quality of life now, we will be eroding the credibility of our democratic institutions and paving the way for a new social outbreak. I humbly invite you to end recriminations and embrace collaboration. We have done it in terms of security, and the fruits have been shown. Let’s keep at it.”
We live in confusing times. It is not clear to know where Chile is heading, whose reality and indicators show a progressive decline and lack of energy that allows progress towards social progress, although this reality is contrasted by a story that, without being original, is still consistent in some aspects and has the strength of the conviction of a relatively high number of Chileans.
Each ruler has tried to establish his or her story about the respective historical time, but most of the time these messages suffer from reductionism and lack of understanding. For this reason, governments often have painful awakenings and returns to reality that are difficult to accept. If at some moments the story seems to acquire a higher value, over time reality’s revenge arrives, at which point the winners and losers are reversed. The speeches, the story, have an undoubted political value, but it is necessary to adjust it with other pieces of the puzzle.
