Evelyn Matthei. The pattern of fury

Adopting the tactics and media tone of Bukele and Milei, the virtual presidential candidate launched an accusatory torpedo against “politicians,” appearing as a denouncer of narcopolitics. It doesn’t matter if there is any basis or not in the accusation. It is the story of right-wing and extreme right-wing candidates, now settling in Chile, in the aspiration of enchanting a sector of the population. In the communication line of her local and international ultraconservative colleagues, she fired: “There is enough evidence that there are already politicians who are financed with drug money.” She did not stop there and snapped at judges and prosecutors, today highly questioned by public opinion: “We do not know if it is weakness or if they are bought or threatened.” Not in vain were these statements made by the mayor of Providencia at an event where representatives of the right and the regional extreme right were present. Reacting to Matthei’s statements, the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, said that “If the proximity of the elections makes this even more active, I think it is because someone thinks that people will applaud it.”

“The Century”. Santiago. 6/19/2024. Evelyn Matthei, mayor of Providencia and virtual opposition presidential candidate, appeared to replicate the story and tone of the far-right leaders Nayib Bukele (El Salvador) and Javier “El Loco” Milei (Argentina) who, in a media tactic of that sector, thus seeks to charm a large sector of the population.

Matthei attacked “the politicians” and appeared to denounce the narcopolitics that, according to her, exist in Chile. In passing, and when the Judiciary is being questioned by public opinion, she fired at judges and prosecutors. Thus, she executed a media agenda of fury against politicians and judges. An agenda of the extreme right and the right to capture votes, as has been the case in El Salvador, Argentina, Italy, Colombia, France, Brazil, among other countries.

In this regard, Eveleyn Matthei stated: “There is a lot of evidence that there are already politicians who are financed with drug money.”

And he went after judges and prosecutors because they acted weakly against drug traffickers and organized crime. “We don’t know if it is weakness or because they are bought or threatened” was his rather delicate statement.

As is an established media pattern, the right-wing presidential candidate not only did not retract her statements, but persisted in her arguments, giving them a tone of truth and bringing the government into the game, where they expressed concern and questioned the mayor’s statements.

On social media, he wrote: “Unfortunately, our institutions are not immune to the problems of Latin America and Chilean politics has not been impervious to the intervention of drug trafficking.” He added that “the most striking case is that of San Ramón. I hope that the Government listens to and reads the complaints made by the mayors of La Granja and La Pintana. Don’t try to hide the sun with a finger!”

Matthei made her first statements in an environment that was in keeping with her words. Representatives of the local and regional right and far right, who attended a tribute to former President Sebastián Piñera, where the expansion of drug trafficking, organized crime and populism was denounced. Matthei spoke of narcopolitics in Chile and the possibility of judges and prosecutors “bought or threatened” before the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, and the former presidents Mauricio Macri (Argentina), Iván Duque (Colombia), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia) and Mario Abdo (Paraguay).

The mayor of Providencia did not leave things there and took advantage of the opportunity to attack her long-time enemy, the left. She established that “many times there is a dangerous relationship between people of far left that what they are trying to do is precisely weaken institutions”.

Everything is in the narrative that Nayib Bukele, Javier Milei, Jair Bolsonaro, Álvaro Uribe, and several other figures from the far right and the right have put forward in Latin America. Hence, it could be a script of fury that Evelyn Matthei will continue to feed.

Along these lines, the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, commented that “if the proximity of the elections makes this even more active, I think it is because someone thinks that people will applaud it, that people will value this strategy and I think that it is rather the other way around.”

Of course, the ultra-conservative sector believes that these attitudes of attacking “politicians” and judges and prosecutors who, moreover, are questioned for various reasons, which is the case in Chile, are valued.

Also in the communication sense, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Luis Cordero, urged that there be “fewer commercials and more specific background information.”

Senator Daniel Núñez, taking into account this communication pattern, stated that “we cannot allow a kind of electoral populism to take hold in order to give high-sounding phrases to the gallery and not take responsibility for situations as serious as those reported by Matthei.”

Let him answer to justice for his statements

Evelyn Matthei’s comments sparked reactions and requests for legal proceedings, which will open up a conflict scenario for her in the coming days.

Minister Cordero said that the mayor’s statements “seem to me to be bold, serious, and delegitimize the institutions.” He pointed out that “if she has an objective record” she should hand it over because “she has a duty to report… If she has a specific record, her obligation as a public servant is to hand it over to the courts of justice.”

Carolina Tohá urged “hopefully to put aside the mud as a way of dealing with issues that are so important for the population,” commenting on Matthei’s statements and said that “I regret this tone adopted by the mayor to deal with security issues. I regret it because we have had too much of that tone in the past and with that tone the country has not moved forward.”

Some went further. In a letter addressed to the National Prosecutor, Ángel Valencia, Senator Daniel Núñez and Deputy Luis Cuello, they asked the highest prosecuting authority to summon Evelyn Matthei to testify so that she can provide the court with all the information she has on the complaint she made about the financing of drug trafficking to politicians.

“We believe that this is a very serious complaint and the National Prosecutor’s Office is fully authorized and obliged by virtue of the principle of officiality and legality to initiate an investigation into this matter. We believe that the Public Prosecutor’s Office should initiate this investigation and summon Matthei as a witness to testify so that she can provide all the information she has on these events, since they obviously constitute crimes,” said Núñez.

Deputy Cuello said that “Mayor Matthei must take responsibility for the serious accusations made about drug trafficking financing for politicians. She has the duty to provide the background information to the Public Prosecutor’s Office within 24 hours. She has not done so and that is why we have asked the National Prosecutor to open an investigation that requires the mayor to provide all the background information and also to clarify how this information came into her possession.”