After spending several days in silence due to the communicational controversies that she starred in, the Minister of the Interior, Izkia Siches, came out at the crossroads of a series of speculations that refer to her loss of gravitation and influence in the ministerial political committee, along with highlighting her commitment in showing an attitude that accounts for higher levels of “serenity and temperance” in the exercise of his position.
Regarding his “excessive spontaneity”, a condition that would have made him take a series of false steps -especially the controversy over the false information about the flight with Venezuelan migrants that was “returned” to Chile-, Minister Siches said in an interview with The Mercury that “there is part of my essence that I cannot lose, and that allows me to stay connected with people’s needs. But it is necessary to convey the serenity and temperance that the position demands.”
“I have been able to talk with former Ministers of the Interior and I have found voices that, rather than pretending to teach, empathize with the difficult moment the country is experiencing, perhaps the most complex since the return to democracy: social and economic crisis, humanitarian crisis in the the north, the exponential increase in violence in the south, the increase in homicides and organized crime,” added Siches, who declared himself equal to the enormous challenge that this government faces: “We are in a very early period for take stock. I believe that the President decided to nominate me as Minister of the Interior, because today more than ever it is necessary to build State policies, and for this, flexibility and spirit of dialogue with all sectors are necessary. This has not changed”.
Regarding the false steps taken by some ministers in this complex installation process, the head of the Interior slipped a hypothesis: “A lot of willingness from ministers to show work very quickly. And it is not easy, the reforms, the processes of transformation and centuries-old conflicts are not going to be resolved overnight”.
Regarding the possible difficulties with the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, regarding the existence or not of “political prisoners”, Siches clarified that “these are minor differences, I alluded to the poster they showed in the attack. I am fully in tune with what was stated by both Minister Jackson and the Undersecretary.” And he added bluntly: “We have had no disputes, difficulties or differences.”
Similarly, Izkia Siches denied that he had lost ground in the political committee within the cabinet and denied differences with other members of that body. “I leave it as press speculation. It’s false. I am part of the political committee and I have never had friction, “she said, while she denied having been removed from the political negotiations in the framework of the vote on the fifth withdrawal of pension funds.
“Perhaps an absence is seen in parliament, but I want to be clear; I participated in political committees until late at night, talking about the strategy. I want to highlight the role of Minister Jara, Ministers Jackson and Marcel. It was a risky strategy, but a responsible and flexible commitment to the well-being of the country,” she declared.
“It was a bad policy that was justified by the inability of the former government to respond,” Minister Siches added, when referring to the withdrawal of pension funds.
