President Piñera in & # 39; El Informante & # 39 ;: & # 39; The Museum of Democracy becomes a museum of the state of Chile & # 39; – The informant

the President Sebastián Piñera visited & # 39;The Informant & # 39; this Sunday to answer the questions of Matías del Río about the latest events that have marked the national and political agenda.

Controversy for the memory museum

The president analyzed the hectic week in which he lived in his presidential cabinet, with the changes that led to the departure of former minister of culture, heritage and art, Mauricio Rojas, following his statements in the book "Dialogues of Converses" about the museum of Memory, which he described as "a montage".

The product, and up to 90 hours of adoption, eventually the president decided to remove Rojas and to designate his replacement Consuelo Valdés Chadwick.

Piñera argued that "the human rights agenda is not an agenda that bothers us, divides us, we are fully aware that human rights violations are never justified"

"This is a matter that I hope will unite the Chileans and not divide them in. The only difference that can be is that some focus on human rights that only look back," the president added.

The president then stressed that "our concern is to create a culture of human rights (…) We are working on a law for people who have been convicted of human rights violations."

"Many of those who were persecuted were very young in 1973 and obeyed orders, many of them claiming they were not acting in bad faith, only that they were responding to orders in an army that was very vertical right now," he's ready.

"We want to change the law and impose cooperation requirements on people who have been convicted of human rights," he said.

Later, the president explained that "the memory museum, like that of Estación Mapocho, are private companies, but they receive almost all of their public funding, one of the things that I think are not good is that the presidents believe private companies that manage themselves and yet be financed by all Chileans ".

"The Museum of Democracy becomes a museum of the state of Chile", he added.

Departure from Mauricio Rojas

"I do not share the words he said (Rojas) when I refer to a montage or deception about the memory museum, but it was undoubtedly that as president he also wants to see if a minister will be able to implement the ambitious cultural agenda. We have for Chile and I came to the conclusion for both reasons that it was not convenient for him to continue as a preacher. & # 39;

"Rojas has a commitment to human rights for life (…) But the communication error to confirm what he said and to say that the museum was an assembly or deception, I thought it was serious enough to make the decision for I have not gone through the ministry, "he said.

"With our control team we could not read everything that Rojas had written (…) If Rojas can work together on every front (of the government), I have no problems"

the Minister for Foreign Affairs Roberto Ampuero It has also been a common name on the agenda because of its joint participation in the book that caused the departure of Rojas, due to the fact that the current foreign minister said that it is rather a museum about the "bad" memory.

In this connection, the president stressed that "it is different." Ampuero said that it was the "Museum of bad memories" (…) It is not the same to speak of a montage, of deceit, then to say that this reminder is not all Everyone has the right to have his own opinion. "

Human rights

"I condemn the abuse of human rights that took place in Chile in the past and I also condemn those who are present in countries such as Venezuela, Cuba or Nicaragua," the president said.

"This must be a consequence, so I share the statements of Cecilia Pérez," he added.

"There are sectors of the left who believe that they are the only ones with democratic legitimacy to govern … My father and my mother were founders of Christian democracy, and I was also always opposed by the military government, because I when he worried about human rights, he thought it was a dividing line. & # 39;

Piñera then said that "we have all evolved in the right direction in our country, I believe that, since President Allende has validated that violence and non-democratic mechanisms, he has evolved and learned to recognize and respect democracy. law has evolved and that it has a strong defense in the area of ​​human rights. "

Autopsy report by former President Frei Montalva

The indication of Assistant Secretary of Assistance Networks, Luis Castillo, It has also caused controversy by the accusations against him regarding the alleged concealment of the causes of death in the autopsy report of former president Eduardo Frei Montalva, who even raised the veto of opposition MPs.

The president said that "when I studied the case thoroughly, I came to the conclusion that there were too many elements that suggested that the death of President Frei was not natural or due to medical negligence that there was something else: the first criminal charge for qualified manslaughter to cooperate in the search for justice. "

"We share 100% the need to clarify President Frei's death and condemn those responsible, but to bear the full weight of responsibility in a person who, in my opinion, had an action consistent with protocols and standards of the Catholic University itself is an unfair act, "he added.

"Judge Madrid has been investigating this problem for 20 years. He had never made any accusations to Castillo, neither Judge Madrid, nor the Frei family, nor the other complainants, "he said later.

Given the statements of the former senator Carmen Frei by saying that "it is ridiculous to say that we politically use the murder of Eduardo Frei Montalva," said President Piñera: "I respect your opinion, but I want to tell you that the person who assesses criminal responsibility is the courts of justice and not the citizens.

"I always ask the Christian Democrats to act on what is best for Chile, this threat that rejects all bills, that there are advantages and disadvantages, it seems to me that it is not the kind of democracy that we I want Chile, "he said.

"The death of President Frei is not only of interest to the Frei family, it is also important for Chile as a whole," he said.

Later, the president said: "I will not be put under pressure … If I conclude that a minister or assistant secretary is an obstacle, I will make the decision that corresponds to it."

Evaluations five months after the start of the government

Regarding the country's economy, the president said that "we have taken care of emergency situations that the previous government had neglected, for example the restructuring of the Carabineros, which seriously jeopardized the effectiveness of the fight against crime."

"We ordered the house about immigration, put the children in line, took the lead on the agenda to achieve more equality of rights and dignity between men and women, to take the issue of La Araucanía seriously. calling for national agreements, "he said later.

"In September we are going to reform pensions, and we are going to implement a reform to modernize labor laws, to address the terminal crisis we have in public and private health, to improve education," he said.

In terms of growth, he said: "I was surprised by the words of former President Bachelet when she spoke about" weak economy. "Let's look at the numbers if you have to be more objective in life. 39; In the second quarter the Chilean economy grew 5 3%, which is three times more than the government of Bachelet grew in. Which adjective corresponds to its 1.7%? Much stronger than & # 39; weakling & # 39; .

Later, the president said that "the tax reform does not aim to increase taxes or companies or people, the previous one was so complex that no one understood it, it was against investment and against growth, it was very damaging to Chile".

"Our pension reform will increase pensions for all Chilean workers," he added.

As far as immigration is concerned, the president explained that "we will not abandon immigrants with a criminal record…" Gentlemen, do not come because we will prosecute them and we will drive them out ".

"We are aiming to expel an undetermined number of immigrants," he said.

View the entire chapter of The Informant.

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