Social unrest: government rules out authorized marches for this Sunday in the Metropolitan Region and reiterates its position on pardons

From the Palacio de La Moneda, the acting Interior Minister, Máximo Pavez, held a new government press briefing, in which he gave a weekly summary of the Executive's work and addressed the pressure from the ruling coalition for President José Antonio Kast to grant pardons to uniformed officers convicted in connection with the social unrest, which marks its seventh anniversary this Sunday. The issue has also drawn criticism from the president of the Libertarian National Party, Johannes Kaiser, who argued that avoiding the discussion on pardons is a bad political decision because, in his view, it does not respond to the expectations of the electorate that backed Kast. On this matter, Pavez ruled out any news and reiterated the Executive's position: "This is not about debating anything regarding the pardons. The government's position has been clear and has been consistently expressed in every instance in which any authority of the Executive has been consulted. Pardons are reviewed case by case; there is a legal procedure for that, and therefore, on this and other matters related to pardons, there is no news to report." Along those lines, he added: "The government is perfectly clear about the reasons that led the electorate to prefer President José Antonio Kast, and we are working every day to fulfill the commitments that have been made to the citizenry." Will there be marches this Sunday, October 18? Asked about a possible special police deployment in response to potential demonstrations, Pavez stated that, according to the information provided by the Metropolitan Presidential Delegate, Germán Codina, and his team, there are no authorized march requests for that day in the Metropolitan Region. "I would like to say regarding the Metropolitan Region that, according to a communication I have had with the Metropolitan Presidential Delegate Germán Codina and his team, there are no authorized march requests for Sunday," he said. He also stated that the Executive expects the day to pass normally, although he assured that the necessary measures will be taken to safeguard public order and security. "It is the government's intention to treat Sunday as a normal day, but of course, there are measures in place to ensure the peace of mind of Chilean men and women and of everyone who lives in Santiago this Sunday and on any other Sunday in our capital," he concluded. Valencia's Request On another front, he was asked about the request from the National Prosecutor, Ángel Valencia, for the government to provide a larger budget for the Public Prosecutor's Office. On this, he said: "We would like to highlight the meeting that took place between the vice president and the National Prosecutor, which reflects the government's willingness to engage in dialogue and the need to have a very good 2027 budget, and where, of course, all the concerns being raised in Congress during its processing, as well as in all formal working meetings, will be incorporated into the analyses the government must carry out so that, when the time comes, it can present the respective amendments and ensure the functioning of the State at all levels in the best possible way."