In a new government spokesperson, the dual minister of the Interior and the Segegob, Claudio Alvarado, responded to the reproaches from some former ministers of Gabriel Boric towards President José Antonio Kast for his comments on the latest Socioeconomic Characterization Survey (Casen).
Specifically, the President questioned this morning - in an interview with Tele 13 radio - the poverty results provided by that measurement.
It was then that at least four former secretaries of state from the previous administration came out to criticize the President. Among them, former Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau; of Social Development, Javiera Toro; of Interior, Álvaro Elizalde; and his predecessor, Carolina Tohá.
In response, the current head of the cabinet stated: "I believe that there is no need to misinterpret the President's words; the President has said one very simple thing, which is that in recent years, the importance of subsidies has increased, which are public policies, in reducing poverty."
"We consider that, in addition to the contribution made by subsidies to that reduction in poverty, as demonstrated in the latest survey, I would like people to be able to improve their condition and quality of life by obtaining additional resources and income on their own, and for that we are working, and I believe that, in one way or another, the reconstruction law, which establishes a new framework of structural and economic bases, that allow and facilitate the co..."
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In a new government spokesperson, the Deputy Minister of the Interior and the Segegob, Claudio Alvarado, responded to the reproaches from some former ministers of Gabriel Boric towards President José Antonio Kast for his comments on the latest National Socioeconomic Characterization Survey (Casen). Specifically, the President questioned this morning -in an interview with Tele 13 radio- the poverty results provided by that measurement. It was then that at least four former secretaries of state from the previous administration came out to criticize the President. Among them, the former Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau; of Social Development, Javiera Toro; of Interior, Álvaro Elizalde; and his predecessor, Carolina Tohá. In response, the current chief of staff stated: “I believe that here we should not misinterpret the President’s words; the President has said a very simple thing, that in recent years the importance of subsidies has increased, which are public policies, in reducing poverty.” “We consider that, in addition to the contribution made by subsidies to that reduction in poverty, as demonstrated in the latest survey, I would like people to be able to improve their condition and quality of life by obtaining additional resources and income of their own, and for that we are working, and I believe that, in one way or another, the reconstruction law, which establishes a new framework of structural and economic bases, that allows and facilitates the creation of employment opportunities, will cause the Casen in the coming years to reduce poverty, not only because of the application of subsidies as a public policy, but also because people have the opportunity to work and bring their own income to their households,” he added. Then he said: “There is no questioning of the data or the figures here. The Casen survey is technically constructed, many people participate, every time there is a modification in the parameters, it is studied and analyzed thoroughly, and all the President has said is that it has been demonstrated that the recent Casen, the reduction of poverty, is mainly explained by the application of subsidies as a public policy, and it is good that these subsidies exist and are maintained, but we affirm that the reduction of poverty also plays an important role and a significant part in generating the own income of each family.” Holiday on September 17? He was also asked about the government’s stance regarding the possibility of establishing Thursday, September 17, as a holiday for Independence Day, after the Undersecretary of the Interior, Máximo Pavez, dismissed that option, while the Minister of Finance, Jorge Quiroz, later did not rule out that scenario. “I believe that what the Executive has said is a result of the fact that it is a situation that should be evaluated based on the impact that an additional holiday day has on economic indicators. I understand that the 17th is a Thursday. The decision regarding these holidays has been given in Congress for a long time. Regarding September, it was clearly established in legislation that was agreed upon by all political actors to define when an additional day could be added,” he replied. He added: “Nowadays, changing the criteria regarding holidays would be to follow the pace of parliamentary creativity, which is welcome, but it generates this kind of differences or disruptions (...) Our position is that regarding holidays and what was discussed about September, they are already properly addressed in legislation.” Possible impeachment against Steinert? During the event, Alvarado was also questioned about the opposition’s threat to initiate the study of a constitutional accusation against former Minister of Security, Trinidad Steinert, if the investigative commission for her case is not established. “I don’t believe there is an impossibility in establishing an investigative commission. In fact, that investigative commission was approved in the Chamber of Deputies and is currently in the process and internal adjudicative procedure of each bench to define the members who will make up that investigative commission. I understand that there is an agreement before the secretariat of the same Corporation that during this week the corresponding names should already be indicated by each bench to form the commission. Therefore, I believe that this commission will function without problems,” he stated. And, regarding a constitutional accusation, he said: “It is within the power of the Chamber of Deputies, but I consider it, a priori, an excess without having background or conclusions from that commission.”