“The right leaves advances in pension improvements on an ellipsis”: Bárbara Figueroa

The general secretary of the PC questioned the position of conservative sectors regarding pension reform and other social issues and pointed out that “that speaks of where the priorities of the right are today, and they are not in the needs of the vast majority of the population.” population”. She stressed that “they are protecting the large economic groups, the AFPs, the large businessmen, the large capitals, that is an element that cannot be ignored.” Regarding allusions to the PC’s questioning of the Government’s measures, the leader maintained that “we do not like nor do we think that the Communist Party is being transformed into the scapegoat” and emphasized that “we are going to be in the line of supporting the Government and the Government program.” Faced with controversies over advance support for candidacies for municipal and gubernatorial elections, the communist general secretary indicated that “we would hope that this is not a debate through the media or through public letters.” She stated that the PC aspires to have more than five current mayors and have governors. Regarding the process that the PC will experience this year, she announced that “it will be a very demanding Congress for the Communist Party.”

Hugo Guzman. Journalist. “The century”. Santiago. 1/26/2024. “We do not like nor do we think that the Communist Party is transformed into the scapegoat in certain situations, because we have supported a large part of the Government’s initiatives.”

It is the response of Bárbara Figueroa, general secretary of the Communist Party (PC), to repeated allusions to the fact that her community’s legislators and leaders question decisions or measures of the Government. And she adds: “For example, in matters of public security, we have supported the entire agenda of the Executive, we have had differences in other matters, and we have debated them.”

He emphasizes: “We are not talking about positions where there is intransigence of the Communist Party regarding the Executive’s agenda” and emphasize that “we are going to be in line with supporting the Government and the Government program.”

One of the points where differences would have appeared is in relation to removing grace pensions from people who participated in the 2019 social revolt because they would be linked to criminal acts.

In this regard, he explains: “We have supported what our parliamentarians have raised in the debate on grace pensions and we have been emphatic in saying that those pensions that are based on the violation of human rights by the State, are not relativized with the pretext of the phenomenon of crime, that is not correct and is an unacceptable position of blackmail on the part of the right.”

He added that “there is a legitimate review of the grace pensions granted by this Government and previous governments, see the criteria, whether criminal records were visible, but one cannot attempt to associate every grace pension with crime, that is not appropriate.” .

“The seriousness of what the right has done and is doing”

Another controversial issue in the week that ends was the vote on the pension reform and its content in the Lower House, where the right voted against the idea of ​​legislating and pressured to modify the project, limiting what the Government proposed to improve income. of the pensioners. Which added to stopping the fiscal pact, turning our backs on health reform and other social measures.

Bárbara Figueroa maintained that “all of this shows the seriousness of what the right has done and is doing.”

He explained that “in the case of the pension reform, the negative of wanting to prevent even the idea of ​​legislating, an issue that did not prosper, but they managed to prevent progress in the solidarity fund, in having an institution that from the State fulfills a function Importantly, they defended the existence of the AFPs, in the end, that they did not raise pensions as much as they should.”

He stressed that “the right leaves advances in pension improvements on an ellipsis. Hopefully in the Senate and then we can really move forward.”

The general secretary of the PC stated that “we see obstructionism in other matters such as the fiscal pact or health. That speaks to where the priorities of the right are today, and they are not in the needs of the vast majority of the population. They are protecting the large economic groups, the AFPs, the large businessmen, the large capitals, that is an element that cannot be ignored. This is a worrying scenario and we must maintain unity and positions so that these right-wing theses do not consolidate and are not imposed on public policies.”

“It seems realistic to us to aspire to have governors or governors”

The elections for mayors, councilors, governors and regional councilors are coming in October of this year. And situations occur such as a group of socialist militants issuing a public letter promoting their own candidacy, optional for the re-election of Irací Hassler as mayor of Santiago, a PC militant. “We would hope that this is not a debate through the media or through public letters,” said the communist leader and specified that “we have a table where the presidents and general secretaries of parties are, there we act with total frankness, for Therefore, there is no reason to use other types of spaces, and particularly the media, to send us messages.”

Figueroa highlighted that “we can evaluate the work of all the mayors and have mechanisms to resolve, and there may be interest in carrying a letter in a commune, but within established channels” by the ruling parties.

And regarding the claims of the Communist Party, the general secretary of the community stated that “we are not only committed to maintaining the current representation, but also to increase the mayoralties that we have to more than five, and it seems realistic to us to aspire to have governors and grow in number of councilors and regional councilors.”

He elaborated on the perspective of the October elections: “We are in the middle of the debate process with the other political forces. We have pointed out that this does not only have to do with the definitions of the best candidates, but with a platform of common minimums that is the basis of the electoral agreement. We have to guarantee that these representations address municipal projects, in the territories, that respond to citizens. There must be proposals that have to do with security, recovery of public spaces, more resources for sports spaces, with improvements in health and education, and in housing. We must have a project that allows us to be the majority to guarantee a better quality of life for the citizens. We have to carry out a municipal program that is attractive to the people.”

Jumping ahead to 2025, when the presidential elections will be held, Bárbara Figueroa commented on the mentions of a candidacy by the current minister Camila Vallejo. “No one can ignore that the mentions that exist about her as a presidential figure have a lot to do with the important role that she has played and deployed as a minister and accounts not only for the public recognition, but also for the high appreciation of her abilities that she has demonstrated in this period,” he said.

But he specified that “today we are in a time when we are focused on reforms, on social measures, we have a 2024 marked by the pension debate and the fiscal pact, also by other relevant reforms that the Government seeks to promote in this second period, such as in health, in education, and addressing the issue of public safety. “2024 will be marked by the October elections.”

So, “one would hope that more than giving an opinion regarding possible scenarios of 2025, we focus with the greatest attention on the contingent, on the needs of this 2024, on citizen emergencies. The 2025 presidential debate does not seem like a first-rate debate to me. Despite that, no one can ignore all the capabilities, the deployment and the role played by the Government Spokesperson, Camila Vallejo.”

What moment has the PC established to announce its candidates for municipal and regional elections?

I could not announce an exact date, but we will do so when the dialogue with other parties has progressed.

“Stop the offensive of the ultraconservative sectors”

Did the victory of Contra in the plebiscite improve the perspective of the ruling party in the face of these elections or is it still a bit uphill to win it?

It is important to understand that we are not in a scenario where the victory of Against has consolidated the majority and transformative project. The result of the plebiscite was a relief for the people, having stopped the offensive of the conservative sectors, the extreme right, having defended the advances of workers, women, and the world of culture. But that cannot mean that we rest on that result and pretend that we have the floor won for the municipal election, that could be a wrong reading and could lead us to a situation of relaxation that would be harmful. We have to reinforce issues that were seen in the plebiscite, such as that by acting together, in a broad social and political unity, it is possible to stop the offensive of the ultra-conservative sectors. It is clear and conclusive that for us to have an optimal, positive result, we need to reinforce the work, not rest, not relax and continue working very hard to carry out our transformative project and the reforms that the right wants to stop. We need a lot of action in the territories, we must be there from now and always.

“A very demanding Congress for the Communist Party”

It is clear that this year will be the long-awaited PC Congress. It is done in the middle of the Government that the communists make up, in the middle of municipal and regional elections, one year before the presidential and parliamentary elections, in a situation where they want to promote structural reforms and where it is proposed that the movement must be revitalized. social and civil society. Will it be a very demanding Congress for the Communist Party?

By the way, it will be a very demanding Congress for the Communist Party because we will develop it as a government party, dedicated to achieving success in this challenge that we have taken on. We will do so with a bench of twelve parliamentarians and two senators with a very great responsibility, a Congress facing municipal and gubernatorial elections. It is a highly challenged Congress. Along with all these more institutional challenges, it is also necessary to strengthen our presence in the social movement, where lies the possibility of unbalancing the balance in situations as complex as those we live in today. In this scenario we will experience a highly challenged Congress, but it is also an opportunity. Because being highly challenged in the contingent debate, in the citizen urgency, this Congress can be a great minute to reflect not only within the party but with the citizens, with the organized actors, how we want to move forward, where we want to move forward. We have many tasks thinking about citizenship, the municipal election, the social movement, the transformations. It will also allow us to evaluate on site of what this time has been like being part of the Government, with the challenges of the reforms, of the pending issues, of the expectations of the citizens. It is like a double side, where we feel the weight of the responsibility of developing the Congress in the midst of so much contingency and so many challenges, and at the same time, to complement the partisan debate.

Will there be a discussion or reflection on this, precisely, of being a government party and at the same time being a party of the people, of the left?

It is not contradictory. We experienced it being part of the Government of the New Majority. Today perhaps the imprint is that we have a greater degree of influence, but we are not a party that does not know, that does not know what it means to be on all fronts. We will have all the conditions and wisdom, not to pretend to play the role of social actors, because that is not our responsibility, but to represent the workers, the people, and promote and defend their rights. Our role as a government party, of the ruling party, is to highlight the role of social actors. We hope that it is understood and understood that to advance our transformative program, it has been clear and demonstrated in a very conclusive way that we need a unity that is as broad as possible, a political and social unity. A challenge we have as the Communist Party is to be able to highlight, legitimize and value the debates and actions of the social world.