Among the things that Carlos Larraín never forgave the former general secretary of the RN, Mario Desbordes, is that -from his particular point of view- he took advantage of his best moment of political evaluation to “tear down the Constitution of 1980”, that 17 November 2018. From then on, Carlos Larraín was not only on the slopes of the front of the then president of RN, but also became one of the articulators of an all-out campaign to minimize the influence of Desbordes within the party and thus recover the key spaces in the decision-making of the most important party in Chile Vamos, and which -in his opinion- had taken a dangerous turn to the left.All this, he did from behind, semi-hidden, letting other soldiers be in front.
Now, the former patron of RN has left behind the political austerity of the second line and is back, spirited, to try to embark the entire party on a messianic mission: “save Chile” from the Constitutional Convention, which would be nothing else -according to what is maintained in the internal party- than to take the flag that Andrés Allamand raised to fight hard for the Rejection in the plebiscite of exit of the new constitution. “That’s where the real political struggle lies,” they say he says.
And although before, it was not easy for the leadership and a large part of the General Council to adhere to the thesis of Desbordes, of a modern and non-cavernary right, now with the control of key positions in RN, it is expected to have a smoother path .
Together with former Foreign Minister Allamand, it all began with a series of high-sounding statements that sought to discredit Desbordes, who they accused of not being representative of the party. This is how in September 2020, prior to the plebiscite for Approval or Rejection, they pushed the situation to the limit, forcing the former deputy to make his position available to the General Council, which finally ratified it, applause in between. Then an attempt was made to advance the elections, shortly after Mario Desbordes landed in the Ministry of Defense, in such a way that they could take charge of the next candidacies, but they failed again before this new attempt. The failed attempt exposed the factual powers of the party as the true promoters of the Rejection, but finally the general council voted for the free route.
The successive defeats, however, did not intimidate Larraín and his team and they continued trying to impose the thesis of the homogeneous party, in the old way, so they decided to wait for new opportunities. These came decisively when the former RN president ran for the internal election. Between Andrés Allamand and Carlos Larraín they managed to unite (although stuck together by force) different sectors through the table made up of Senator Francisco Chahuán and Deputy Diego Schalper, taking control of the store. Then, for the presidential primaries of Chile Vamos, deputy Tomás Fuentes, Andrés Allamand’s former chief of staff, managed, against all odds, to introduce former candidate Sebastián Sichel, causing a division of internal forces that ended up weakening and ending the Desbordes campaign, who finished fourth among four candidates in the sector.
There are not a few who warn that if they stand by the rejection of the constitutional proposal in the exit plebiscite, or if they adopt a very negative attitude towards the process, they could lose their quality as a bridge party with the new government, being surpassed by the UDI, who They work stealthily trying to deliver signals that would point to showing that the party would have “adapted” better to the new times. As an example, they recall the vote in favor of same-sex marriage, the disposition that has been had with the elected President, and the fact that its president and general secretary, Javier Macaya and María José Hoffman, have a “less old” profile than their peers in Chile. Let’s go.
The official version of the directive indicates that being “the largest party”, they would feel personal responsibility, being they who lead the opposition, ruling out being in search of raising the flag of rejection at this point in the party, a version that everyone believes it.
Larraín, as the patron of the house
Once the internal one was won, RN again entered a phase that was not at all unknown in the party, but not very efficient, and that accounts for the internal divisions that take up more time than desired. Although from the board of directors they assured they had no problems, since the opposition would not have enough force to hinder the work, in any case – and this is how their conglomerate peers recognize it – they understand that the various wedges that the helmsman has tried to impose, Francisco Chahuán, would account more than anything for an attempt to order “his party.”
Having said that. And with a directive totally in his favor, and without dissidence, except in the political commission, where ten of the 15 members would be on the front line, today Carlos Larraín’s project would have increasingly solid roots to support the thesis of the.
And it is that Diego Schalper, whom they place as the political godson of the former patron, added to Francisco Chahúan, who although he does not have the godson standard, there was always an undeniable closeness in previous elections, are joined by a couple of key personalities that follow the current line of the store.
On the one hand, there is the always strong name of Senator Manuel José Ossandón, who would have received the permission of Carlos Larraín himself to be the one who represents the party as president of the Senate, beyond the fact that those close to him deny it. In any case, there is evidence, and it is the correlate of both, who “repeated the same concept” in the political committee on January 3, when present at the instance, they put the idea on the table that the party had to play all their cards in the constitutional convention to “save Chile”. Although the former mayor of Puente Alto has no internal supporters, his media coverage, and the large number of votes that re-elected him as senator, continues to be a force that puts him at the center of the discussion.
On the other hand, and leading the third floor of the mansion of Antonio Varas – space for the political team, is Diego Poblete, deputy secretary of estates, also considered an extension of Carlos Larraín, belonging to the CDU (Centro Derecha Universitaria) sponsored group in the past by Larraín, who together with Francisco Orrego and five other members answer directly to the former senator. At that table, the only person close to President Francisco Chahúan is Chantal Barreau.
Larraín’s roots extend most evidently to Claudio Eguiluz, elected representative of the regional presidents, and located in the Biobío region. Continuing in the south of the country, another representative close to the former senator is the former deputy and agricultural businessman Mario Bertolino. In Parliament, although they cannot be described as followers of Larraín, there are several who follow his thesis, who supported getting Mario Desbordes out of the way, and who have a long-standing relationship with the former senator, some crossed by old financial supporters in their applications.
In the case of Mario Desbordes, the string of defeats left his people sufficiently diminished to think about rethinking how to survive at least until the middle of next year, when it is time for new internal elections.
For now, Desbordes is out of parliament and without a managerial position, he has to rely on the few voices that defend his thesis, such as deputy Paulina Nuñez in Parliament and Cristián Monckeberg in the Constituent Convention, joined by the member of the political commission, Víctor Blanco.
Close to Desbordes they assured that although they have not yet made a decision regarding whether or not to continue militating in the party, the insistence of what they accused as a “dirty war” would not have stopped. His inner circle points to the directive of being the architects of having recently taken him to the Supreme Court for having supported a candidate outside of Chile Vamos. The board has rejected these accusations, completely disassociating itself from any type of articulation.
