It was in February when the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, transmitted to the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, that she would not go for a new term in office. The former president’s decision was also not unknown in Chile: she herself let her close ones know on her last visit to the country, which lasted almost three months.
Although Guterres – they say close to Bachelet – asked her to remain in office, today the former president announced that she is returning to Chile, declining to reapply for another term. This is how she would land in Santiago at the end of August, when there are only days left for the plebiscite set for September 4, following which, according to sources linked to the former president, she might travel to Geneva once more to make her move and settle permanently in Chile. in early October.
“My family needs me there and my country needs me there. They haven’t asked me for anything specific, but I want to be there, because I think Chile is experiencing a very important moment in its history, so I want to be close,” he said at a press conference. High Commissioner’s Phrase moved the political board first thing in the morning, starting with President Gabriel Boric himself, who quickly responded to the tweet in which she confirmed her decision. “Welcome back!” she wrote to him.
Thus, from Geneva, and following the 50th session of the Human Rights Council, the former president reaffirmed that “it is time to return” and clarified that two months ago he told Guterres. “I have been president twice, so I have received a lot of criticism in my life. That is not the reason I make decisions,” she retorted. The foregoing, in order to clear doubts regarding the harsh criticism he received following his visit to China between May 23 and 28 from countries such as the United States to NGOs such as Human Rights Watch. In fact, it was the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, one of the strongest voices once morest the trip made by the former president. “It mightn’t have gone better for the Chinese government in its effort to hide the mass arrests and abuses in Xinjiang,” Roth said, noting that the high commissioner had “adopted Beijing’s rhetoric.”
Her innermost circle in Chile affirms that she already had a notion of Bachelet’s intention to return.
On his last visit – on the occasion of the year-end festivities and the second presidential round, where he gave his support to Boric – he had a packed agenda and stayed in the country for regarding three months. Those weeks were also politically active: he held a meeting with then-candidate Gabriel Boric, led a meal with the board of directors of the Fundación Horizonte Ciudadano and an appointment with the conventional constituents of the Socialist Collective. Later, it also transpired that in those days he met with the Minister of the Interior, Izkia Sicheswho had just been appointed to the position.
During this morning, the conventional Patricio Fernández pointed out on Radio Cooperativa that “I was with President Bachelet in the summer and she had made the decision to return. It is an issue that she has been carrying for a long time, it is not a sudden decision.
What is the former president regarding? Those close to him say that he is not looking for a political role or to have a leading role in the Approval campaign, but that -however- he will not refrain from making gestures -such as recording a video, as he did with Boric- to give his support to the option favorable to the new Constitution. Definition that she already communicated publicly a few weeks ago, when she said “I hope it will be approved, I think it should be approved”, a Bloomberg.
The executive director of Citizen Horizon, Xavier Altamiranoconfirms that the former president returns to work within her foundation and that the definitions she makes in the run-up to the end of the constituent process, will be decisions that she herself must communicate.
“Michelle Bachelet led a participatory path to change the Constitution and largely laid the foundations for the subsequent constituent process. She is far from indifferent to the possibility that Chile has a new Constitution, her commitment is known. How she will contribute and what role she will play specifically, that is something that she will have to decide (…). She returns to her foundation, to her house. We will wait to talk with her to develop her future plans.”
On a political level, Bachelet’s return is seen favorably by the ruling party, especially in the face of the September plebiscite. From La Moneda, and behind the political committee, the former president of Horizonte Ciudadano and new helmsman of the PS, Paulina Vodanovicexpressed that “Your presence in Chile can be a great incentive for people to enthusiastically support the Approval.”
In the government they admit that a more active role of Bachelet in the face of the plebiscite might favor the Approval. The same in the parties of the ruling party where they highlight that he is one of the best evaluated figures, according to the latest Cadem survey that measured political figures. His political capital, they add, continues to be an asset on the left.
During the followingnoon, consulted regarding the return of Bachelet, the minister spokeswoman Camila Vallejo asserted: “Obviously (…) I imagine that any former president will have the interest of being part of the historical moment in the face of the plebiscite on September 4. Whatever the positions or how they are going to vote. But we fully understand the intention of being part of this historic moment and being able to live it with your loved ones, your family and those close to you.”
On a more personal level, close friends of the former president point out that during the same visit in December, she expressed that, in addition to fatigue, the death of her mother, Ángela Jeria, and the distance at that time marked her. A feeling that she herself confided almost a year ago in Revista Ya.
“I said, ‘what do I do, how do I say goodbye to her?’ A funeral at home was not something I liked, but maybe it was the only alternative, but my lawyer friends told me ‘no, it’s forbidden’. ‘I’m going to see my mom at the hospital, to give her a little kiss before they put her in the coffin’… ‘no, because you have to quarantine’. So I went home. I might not physically say goodbye to my mother, nor might I participate in the wake or the funeral, ” counted.
In Chile Vamos there was concern regarding the role that Bachelet would come to play for the Approval. Some gauge that his popularity might get more supporters by adhering to the draft of the new Constitution. Hence, in the games they quickly came out to set limits.
At a press point, the vice president and deputy chief of the RN bench, Sofía Cid, said that “we want to ask the high commissioner to respect this process and not participate in either the Approval or the Rejection. And she reminds him that her position prevents her from taking part in electoral campaigns.”
While the president of the UDI, Javier Macaya, maintained that the idea is that the campaign be made visible by “civil society, not the traditional political faces.”
In any case, some in Chile Vamos dismiss the possibility of moving the needle, remembering that their presidential candidate, Paula Narváez (PS), failed in the presidential elections. In this sense, the strategic line is to criticize her if she gets involved in the constituent process, and to state that she returned to Chile because she did not have the capacity to re-elect herself as UN High Commissioner, due to the criticism that her management received, especially due to the recent trip to China.
