© EFE
Laya and Iglesias, during their trip to Bolivia. (EFE / Martín Alipaz)
The taking of possession of the future president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, is causing a new friction in the coalition government. Irene Montero wants to be part of the Spanish delegation that, together with the King, will go to Santiago de Chile on March 11 to an event marked in red for the western left. The PSOE, for its part, wants what happened in Bolivia not to be repeated, when the then second vice president, Pablo Iglesias, went together with the head of state and kept a ‘private agenda’ outside of Foreign Affairs.
It is tradition that Felipe VI attends the inaugurations of the Latin American presidents. He did it as a prince of Asturias and has continued to do so as monarch. The Royal House has not yet begun to organize the trip, but the presence of the Head of State is practically insured in such an event. He has already headed the representation that traveled to Bolivia a little over a year ago for the inauguration of Luis Arce.
This is where the problems have arisen in the coalition. The Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, has closed those days to be part of the Spanish delegation. It is also common for the person in charge of diplomacy to accompany the King on the Airbus of the Spanish Air Force and cross the Atlantic. From Foreign Affairs, therefore, they point out that the minister will be in Chile junto a Boric.
© Provided by El Confidencial
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The Minister of Equality, for her part, also wants to be in Chile with Boric. Montero is organizing his agenda to attend the inauguration of the winner of the elections and, therefore, be part of the Spanish delegation. Foreign already knows the intentions of Montero and now it remains to be seen how many people will accompany to the leader of United We Can in the displacement.
What the PSOE is trying is that Montero does not have a agenda outside the official. Or that, at least, it is supervised. They do not want a repeat of what happened in Bolivia, where the then Second Vice President attended with the Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya and kept a solo ‘private agenda’. Iglesias participated with the King in the inauguration of Arce and he also attended a meeting with representatives of the Spanish community. But he also took advantage of his stay in La Paz to meet Latin American leaders such as the Peruvian Verónika Mendoza and the Ecuadorian Andrés Arauz. He also had dinner with the Argentine president, Alberto Fernández.
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Precisely from that dinner with Fernández, as revealed by Arauz, the call came out ‘Declaration of La Paz‘, a document in which it is concluded that the main threat to Western democracies is “the extreme right”. The statement had the support of the former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and of leaders of the left like Evo Morales (Bolivia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) or Dilma Rousseff (Brazil), among others. Greek also signed Alexis Tsipras. A negotiation will be opened with United We Can, but government sources assure that Montero will be able to do whatever he wants during the hours he spends in Chile.
Gabriel Boric’s victory has been praised by the left in general. United We Can has turned to him. Both Montero and Ione Belarra posed with a T-shirt with the message ‘Boric presidente‘. The secretary general of Podemos has even spoken that it has been “a victory of hope over fear that is also a powerful lesson for progressive spaces around the world. Chile inspires us.”
Chile’s democratic advance must continue. Today hope has to win against fear in a historic election for Chileans. All the push from here to @gabrielboric. Everyone to vote to return Chile to its people. pic.twitter.com/Cx8n3q4Efs
– Ione Belarra (@ionebelarra) December 19, 2021
Boric leads what is known as Wide Front in Chile, an allusion that also uses Yolanda Diaz in the ‘listening process’ what is going to boost earlier this year that has just begun. The parallels are thus obvious. The second vice president herself sent a video to the Chilean in the second round of the presidential elections supporting his candidacy: “yours is the best possible project to broaden democracy, expand rights and protect citizens,” he said.
Less effusive has been the PSOE. Pedro Sanchez wrote a tweet congratulating Boric and stating that “the Chilean people are moving forward with hope towards a fairer, feminist and environmentalist future.” “Our countries will continue to strengthen their relations, strengthening ties between Latin America and the EU,” he added. Socialist positions, such as the president, Cristina Narbona, the spokesperson of the parliamentary group in Congress, Héctor Gómez, the secretary of International Policy of the PSOE, Hana Jalloul, and the former vice president of the European Commission Joaquín Almunia signed a manifesto in support of the Chilean.
The one who will not send any representative to Boric’s takeover in just two months will be the PP. Sources from the surroundings of Pablo Casado affirm that his seat will be empty in the Spanish delegation.