SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) – Chilean President Gabriel Boric is trying to revive an administration that has fallen in popularity in less than two months since he made headlines around the world for becoming the country’s youngest president and possible a symbol of a resurgent left wing in South America.
As opinion polls show Boric with a marked erosion of support since taking office, the 36-year-old president said the transition was over and called on his ministers to act with a “sense of urgency” to deal with it. the demands of the Chileans.
“There was something like a retelling of his story,” said Eugenio Tironi, a Chilean sociologist. “There was a change in tone, a change in role, and the government suddenly became much more active.”
Boric said this week that he was analyzing the possibility of allowing the military to assist in enforcing the duties of law enforcement agencies in the violent southern part of the country. Dozens of truck drivers are blocking key roads, demanding action to ensure their safety in the La Araucania and Biobio regions, about 600 kilometers (360 miles) south of the Chilean capital.
Boric’s apparent desire to turn to the military for help with internal security, which he has resisted in the past, follows his acknowledgment that nearly two months in office have not passed exactly as he had hoped since he entered the presidency. post with support of 56 percent of the runoff in December.
“There were difficulties and mistakes,” Boric told the local newspaper La Tercera in an interview published on May 1st. “It is important that we acknowledge our own responsibility.”
Opinion polls show that Boric’s brilliance seems to be fading rapidly among Chileans.
His approval rating fell to about 24 percent in the second half of April, down nearly 23 points since he took office, according to a May 1 poll by Pulso Ciudadano. It was based on 1,043 online questionnaires and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Another sociologist, Kadem, said Boric’s approval rating was 36 percent, down 14 points since he was sworn in. This survey is based on 703 telephone interviews with a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
In his latest moves, Boric “notes that the honeymoon was a little sharper than expected and he cannot appeal to youth or inexperience to justify his political mistakes,” said Cristobal Bellolio, a professor of political science at Adolfo Ibanes University in Santiago. .
Although shorter honeymoons for recently sworn leaders have become a global trend amid growing skepticism from government officials, Boric appears to have been particularly patient with Chileans, taking too long to detail his plans for the post. said Bellolio.
“In the beginning, he abused the idea that they would take the time to first diagnose the situation before taking action,” he added. “But you have to act, even if the diagnosis is not complete.”
As a student leader, Boric often staged protests against inequality that shook the country, once seen as the foundation of political stability in the region. As a candidate, he promised to bring about a seismic change in the political landscape. Now some of his constituents are disappointed that change seems slow.
“It could have the effect that expectations are too high, along with expectations of the speed with which things will happen,” said Christian Cáceres, a 54-year-old telecommunications engineer. “People definitely had unrealistic expectations.”
At least so far, Boric’s talks on shaking the status quo have not yet taken place.
“He hasn’t introduced anything new,” said Cristobal Junius, director of Data Science at Unholster, a local sociologist. “He talks about transformative reforms, but we don’t see any reforms.”
For Raul Uloa, a 69-year-old optician in Santiago, the decline in Boric’s approval is no mystery. He said the new president “has no plan” and must now “go to the middle and not be so extremist” if he hopes to regain support.
Analysts largely agree that the Boric administration is suffering from some self-inflicted wounds from a cabinet full of new faces. Several of these mistakes include Interior Minister Izkia Siches. In March, she was forced to abruptly end her visit to the area of La Araucania, a center of conflict with local groups demanding land reclamation, after shots were fired near her motorcade. In April, Siches apologized after mistakenly telling lawmakers that a plane carrying expelled Venezuelan immigrants during the previous administration had returned to Chile with all passengers on board.
“This is a team that does not have much political experience in the executive branch. They got there precisely because they had never been there before, “said Claudia Hayes, head of political science at the University of Chile. “They are learning how to run a government and that has made them make some mistakes.”
This weighs heavily on some Chileans, including Patricio Soto, 40, who says the Boric administration “may have had the best of intentions, but the lack of experience in important positions” has led to problems in the government.
At the same time, however, Boric is addressing some issues that would challenge everyone in his position.
“The economic situation is extremely relevant and anyone who would be in power right now would be in trouble,” Hayes said. “We have inflation that has not been seen in Chile since at least the return of democracy, and we are still mired in an economic crisis as a result of the pandemic.
Chile’s annual inflation rate reached 10.5 percent in April, exceeding double digits for the first time in 28 years and showing an increase of 7.2 percent recorded in 2021.
Amid continuing economic difficulties, the Chilean government this week cut its growth expectations for the year to 1.5% from 3.5% and raised its inflation forecast for 2022 to 8.9%.
However, the Chileans are not only sour from Boric; they are becoming increasingly skeptical of the institution rewriting the country’s constitution.
Nearly eight out of 10 Chileans voted in favor of rewriting the constitution in 2020, a huge majority that showed fervor for change in the country following student protests. But now that the constitutional convention has taken effect, many have doubts, and polls show that more and more people are inclined to vote against the still unfinished plebiscite document in September.
Even some who support the reform are skeptical.
“I think as a society we need to change the constitution,” said Daniela Arevalo, a 25-year-old architecture student. “But now I don’t believe in the constitutional process.”
Boric is a staunch supporter of the constitutional amendment, and the future of his government is seen as inexorably linked to what is happening in this vote, as both are part of a historic process involving Chileans demanding change.
“If the government wins, it can breathe easy,” Bellolio said. “If he loses, it will lead to a political earthquake.”
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Daniel Politie reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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