ambassador Javier Velasco “there is no fix”

He Former Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz criticized in harsh terms the Chilean ambassador to Spain, Javier Velasco, who has been involved in a series of controversies since he has been in office. The last was last week, when he hinted that Chile could look to Spain for a new partner in the defense sector given the weakening of relations with Israel.

In this regard, in conversation with Al Pan Pan con Mirna SchindlerMuñoz said that “Ambassador Velasco it does not have a solution. Not only has he exceeded his powers as Chile’s ambassador to Spain, nor the functions of his representation by getting involved in an issue as delicate as our country’s long-term arms supplies, but he has demonstrated an extraordinary lack of judgment and this does not its the first time”.

“I believe that he has abused the trust that the President of the Republic placed in him by appointing him ambassador, in Spain no less, on the front line for the interests of Chile. And by the way, then, at least another call for attention is appropriate, but the decision about his future is completed by the President and I am not going to even give an opinion on what his future should be, because that corresponds exclusively to the President of the Republic. What is clear, however, is that what this new controversy, this new decriteria, has done is distract attention from the President of the Republic’s tour to this new controversy created by these reckless sayings of Ambassador Velasco,” he added.

According to Muñoz, President Gabriel Boric is not “limited by the constitution to appoint people only in certain countries with respect to ambassador-level diplomatic representations. So, that is not in the constitution. One could say that it is better for an inexperienced political ambassador not to be in a critical place, but that is in matters of the President of the Republic. Some people who are political appointees who have been close to the president in the past have done a very good job because suddenly the personal link with the president of the trust helps diplomatic management.”

“Obviously, this is not the case, because we have already had three or four similar incidents that what they do is harm the image of Chile, create unnecessary controversies, and that is why the president had already made a call for attention on another occasion through the Foreign Ministry and now again he includes a call for attention and a report. I don’t know how it will end but in any case it is the prerogative of the President of the Republic according to the Constitution to keep him or remove him if he has his trust,” he concluded.

Criticisms of the PC

On another topic, Muñoz referred to the statements of the Communist Party (PC), who criticized the holding of the Peace Summit convened by Ukraine. The event brought together nearly 60 world leaders and representatives of some 90 governments. Occasion where President Gabriel Boric also participated.

In the letter, although they say that they share “the principle that grants the President of the Republic the role of representing the foreign policy of the government of Chile before the international community,” they criticize that it is “a partial initiative that can be a solidarity activity with a of the parties, but it will not necessarily have the effectiveness of the process to build a political agreement that resolves Peace.”

In this regard, Muñoz said that “the statements of the Communist Party surprise him, because the final declaration that President Boric subscribes clearly says that progress towards peace after this Russian invasion of Ukraine should incorporate the participation and dialogue of all the parts. That is to say, the message of the summit itself is that obviously Russia should be present.”

“I believe that the Communist Party is unfocused in this. And I think the President was right to say that, in some way, he is struck by the fact that a certain left is represented in Russia’s leadership. It seems to me that what he is expressing is that the left is not in tune with what is really happening in Russia and they stayed in the 20th century, basically. Because President Putin, with all due respect, his inspirations, his philosophers, are from the extreme right,” he added.

“So I think there is a mistake. They think that, in some way, Putin is the continuity of the communist regime of the former Soviet Union. So, it catches my attention a lot, because it means not knowing what is really happening in Russia, what Putin thinks, what those around him think and what that government is,” he stated.