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The resignation of the officials of the Boric Executive is the response to a dozen pardons for those convicted of the social protests of 2019 and a former guerrilla who fought against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. It is the second major crisis facing the left-wing government after the failure in the referendum vote on a new Constitution.
These are not calm hours in the La Moneda palace, the headquarters of the Chilean executive. Two resignations marked the day. Justice Minister Marcela Ríos resigned from her post after the controversy sparked by a series of pardons for 12 convicted citizens and a member of a former armed group that fought against the Pinochet dictatorship.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric also announced the resignation of one of his trusted men, the Chief of Staff, Matías Meza-Lopehandía.
According to the president, it was due to errors made when executing the decision to grant pardons “and also considering the need to strengthen the political management of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.”
“When situations of these characteristics occur in politics, we must assume responsibilities,” concluded the head of state. The two dismissed officials come from Boric’s political formation, Social Convergence.
For its part, the Ministry of Justice already has a new tenant, the lawyer Luis Cordero Vega, who is out of the country, so he will join the Executive in the coming days.
I appreciate the confidence of the President @GabrielBoric by appointing me as Minister of the @MinjuDDHH. I am honored to join his cabinet and assume the challenges of institutional leadership in the area of Justice and Human Rights.
— Luis Cordero Vega (@LuisCorderoVega) January 7, 2023
The genesis of the crisis
On December 30, pardons were announced for 13 people. The criminal record of one of the participants in the 2019 demonstrations, holder of five convictions for minor crimes and 26 cases against him, was especially tense.
It was also learned that a former member of the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front armed group was in jail, after participating in a bank robbery, and convicted in a trial full of irregularities.
The ultra-conservative party, the Independent Democratic Union, created at the time of the dictatorship, announced the abandonment of the transversal security table, a government initiative. They also revealed their plans to present a constitutional accusation against Gabriel Boric.
The errors of the Ministry of Justice when announcing the number of pardoned were also questioned.
The pressure from some opposition parties was not long in coming. The opposition Renovador Nacional threatened to present a constitutional accusation against Marcela Ríos for the pardons and her errors in making them known.
Second predicament for the leftist government
These two resignations represent the second major crisis facing Gabriel Boric. The first was the triumph of the “no” in the plebiscite that sought to change the constitution written at the time of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
During that trance, two close collaborators of the president fell, who were in charge of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Government relations with Congress. He also represented the change of the left in power towards a more moderate cut, which created friction in the coalition that supports the government.
with EFE
