After the cabinet council that took place this Thursday in La Moneda, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejola He referred to the call toorder and prudence” received from him by the Chilean ambassador in Spain, Javier Velasco.
The reprimand was requested directly by the President Gabriel Boricfollowing a photograph of the diplomatic representative sitting in the back seat of a vehicle, next to a barefoot person lying with his feet in his lap, went viral.
“We have already made a wake-up call, which is what corresponds in these cases,” said the chancellor, who arrived in the country this Thursday, following participating with the President in the UN General Assembly and extending his stay in the United States. to manage the candidacy of Chile before the Human Rights Council of United Nations.
“He (Velasco) is very clear regarding the situation and, obviously, It was completely unfortunate and what happened. It does not correspond to an attitude of an ambassador”, remarked Urrejola, adding that “the President himself asked me to take action on the matter”.
The truth is that the photograph in which the Social Convergence lawyer and a figure close to the President appeared, also reached the Association of Career Diplomats and Diplomatsfrom where they issued a statement expressing annoyance at the situation.
“Discretion, criteria and prudence, basic characteristics to carry out our specialized work, have not been the trend in recent weeks”, they stated in the document, warning that the known events “they move away from what is expected of Chile’s representatives abroad.”
In Congress, the image also generated several questions. The Committee on Foreign Relations of the Chamber of Deputies, on Tuesday, agreed, with votes once morest deputies Carmen Hertz (PC) and Ericka Ñanco (RD), send a note of annoyance to the Foreign Ministry for the conduct of the ambassador. To this were added several requests for resignation from sectors of the opposition and the ruling party.
Last week, Velasco had already starred in a controversy by declaring that, for the social outbreak of October 2019 to occur, “it took 30 years of policies that deepened inequality”.
His words -which made ruling parties uncomfortable- were defended by President Boric during the tour to New York.
“Having a critical vision apart from that period does not seem to me to constitute a reason to generate a great controversy”, affirmed that time the head of state, during a press conference.