The Government’s first reaction was seen two hours after the ambush where three police officers died in the province of Arauco.
At 3:15 a.m., senators and deputies of the Security and Defense commissions – from the ruling party and the opposition – received several calls from the Minister of Security, Álvaro Elizalde, to ask them if they could accompany the president on a flight that was expected to depart at 7 in the morning to Concepción, ideally together with authorities of the Judicial Branch, so that the three branches of the State would be present during the visit to Cañete.
Those who answered the call on their cell phones or Whatsapp understood that there was consternation and confusion in La Moneda. As they explain, the political cabinet was not prepared to evaluate a state of siege and the continuity of General Director Ricardo Yañez as a political reaction on the eve of the Carabinero Day event and where the first information pointed to the fact – in the eyes of the Government – to the days before the sentence against Héctor Llaitul was announced.
Minutes later, President Boric was able to communicate with General Yañez, at which time they would have addressed for the first time the possibility of his continuation in office beyond May 7. This, after in recent days the Presidency was analyzing the options for his succession in Carabineros.
At the same time, Elizalde contacted several bench leaders to address another issue: postpone the district week and meet in committees next Monday and Tuesday, and vote on Thursday and Friday in the room on the Rules for the Use of Force and, if possible, the Intelligence Law. Meanwhile, according to the ruling party, Undersecretary Monsalve communicated with various police units in the Bío Bío Region to learn more details about the situation and coordinate the trip.
According to those close to the seat of power, there was concern in La Moneda, because they anticipated that sectors of the opposition would seek to toughen their discourse on the ineffectiveness of the President in the security agenda, without being able to recover from days that had been very complex.
In this context, the Executive’s strategy would be focused on looking for ways to postpone the formalization hearing against Yañez, which – with some discomfort – would “bury” the Tohá doctrine, that every formalized authority had to abandon its position. . Although it is estimated that burying the Interior Minister’s instructions caused a loss of political capital, if not done so, the Government anticipates that the opposition will raise the continuity of Yáñez as a banner of struggle.
Those close to Elizalde and Monsalve explain that, for La Moneda, the triple homicide is a much more complicated political situation than the murder of other police officers, because the ruling party is in the middle of an electoral year, at the pinnacle of the debate for security and the presence of the Aragua Train, and with one of the lowest evaluations of the cabinet in the surveys. Some leaders are even beginning to talk “about the end of the progressive agenda.”
“This may be the beginning of the end of the Boric era. The political committee is going to be bruised, because the crime occurs in the State of Exception that the Frente Amplio questioned and then had to accept in the middle of its speech on Wallmapu, because it is a new atypical homicide, like that of Ronald Ojeda, which occurs in the middle of an electoral campaign, and this increases the perception of the crime problem. Everything indicates that Yañez will be left to avoid a constitutional accusation against Tohá. “This issue will last until the July primaries, at least,” says a parliamentarian. The counter.
Thus, La Moneda focused its efforts on three areas: appearing alongside Yáñez and not against it, approving two significant laws on security this week before losing control of the agenda and, thirdly, taking as much distance as possible. of escalating to a State of Siege, the return of the death penalty and a spiral of proposals far from the political line that represents the government bloc.
“I think it is complex to remove the general in this scenario, so the Tohá doctrine is going to be put to the test and his leadership too, in the midst of this crisis,” says an official senator.