The pavement is not to blame

In moments like this, political differences must find points of agreement and from there advance towards the unity and cohesion that was so much requested in the inaugural session of the meeting of the company.

Cohesion, unity, and development, concepts very present in Enade 2023, which illustrate what is happening in Chile. “Our unity is the most powerful weapon we have against crime,” “the social cohesion of a country is an essential element for recovering growth”… Some of the phrases that were repeated at the event.

If we need them, it is because we are currently in a crisis. A word that comes from the Greek verb to separate, to break, and to repair it requires thinking and analyzing, thus transforming the crisis into an opportunity to mend what was broken.

What is it that was “broken”? Undoubtedly, crime leads the vast majority of Chileans to respond with a desire for peace and stability; others will say it is their opportunities for economic and social development. However, the truth is that the answer to that question relates to a structural problem: Institutions have weakened. Health, education, pensions, security, and even the Constitution have been questioned. Foundational changes were proposed for all of this under the argument of moving towards a better country. However, the problem is that this justification led to a “thinking,” as the Greeks would say, that instead of uniting and repairing, generated more separation.

The problems did not start on March 11, 2022. There is no doubt about that, nor is there any doubt that the institutional deterioration generated by ideological discourses aimed at undermining fundamental institutions such as the Armed Forces and law enforcement created the precise context for the crisis to gain strength.

From reforming Carabineros, we moved to reforming Chile with the new Constitution. The first draft was overwhelmingly rejected; today we are in a new process and we have the opportunity for this time, the house of all to be built with solid material and allow the development of a modern country capable of meeting the challenges of the next 50 years.

But, as the Chilean saying goes, “there’s a long way from saying to doing.” We need to start by valuing the institutions of the State; the police and Armed Forces, for example, cannot be excluded from the constitutional debate, even if some dislike it, they are the concrete that will protect the house of all; we must continue by reinforcing our national identity, which is represented in the flag and signifies unity in diversity; and end the polarization of the population, in moments like this, political differences must find points of agreement and from there advance towards the unity and cohesion that was so much requested in the inaugural session of the meeting of the company.

“You have the opportunity to be the President who unites Chile,” said the chairwoman of the Icare board to Gabriel Boric, to which he responded affirming that he hopes to “be the President who unites Chileans and does not divide them.”

Given the moment we are living through as a country, hopefully that will be the case, although it seems quite difficult, especially when the Government coalition and its two factions are included in the equation. The opportunity exists; let us hope that this time the thinking and analyzing will be correct.

Pilar Lizana
Researcher at AthenaLab

Source: El Líbero