The President of Chile Gabriel Boric rides a bicycle during his vacation.Gabrielboric (RR.SS.)
Gabriel Boric’s first vacation as President of Chile didn’t fit the traditional script. The president resumed his days off Monday after interrupting them in the first week of February due to the wildfire wave in the country’s south-central area that consumed 26 deaths and 440,000 hectares. From the government palace, they made it clear that Boric will continue to monitor the emergency remotely and receive reports from the ministers deployed on the ground. He is expected to resume normal presidential activities from February 27, but the government is not ruling out bringing the date forward in an emergency.
Boric’s original plan was to rest the first two weeks of February in anticipation of completing his first year in office on March 11. The holiday caught him with very high disapproval rates (70% according to the Cadem poll; 61% according to the Center for Public Studies), several open crises – pardons, the State Department audio leak, criticism of Peru – and in the midst of pressure from the ruling party to change cabinets.
With this scenario on his back, the President boarded an airliner for Chilean Patagonia on February 2 with his partner Irina Karamanos. On the flight, he took photos with some followers and chatted with the passengers. The images, which underscored his slim figure and circulated without fanfare, quickly spread on social networks. They were joined by other members of the President, who were shopping at a supermarket in Coyhaique, in the Aysén region, about 1,400 kilometers south of Santiago.
A photo shared by users of social networks showing Gabriel Boric boarding an airliner during the holidays that he had to interrupt.RR SS
When he was only a few days in the far south, the deadliest wave of forest fires in the last decade broke out in Chile. The president broke a vacation during which he had planned to visit family in Punta Arenas and then head to a central coast beach to lead the emergency response. Boric deployed several of his ministers on the ground and visited the areas hardest hit by the tragedy in the regions of Biobío, Ñuble and La Araucanía (400, 500 and 700 kilometers south of Santiago respectively). On all of his visits, he was seen speaking to and comforting the victims.
In the Cadem poll published this Sunday, the President’s approval reaches 30 points (an increase of three points compared to the first week of February) and 64% disapprove. Meanwhile, support for the government’s handling of fires rose 10 points to 47% in a week and disapproval fell 15 to 46%. With the state of emergency “contained but not overcome,” the President has resumed his dormancy in “hybrid” mode for a week.
Contrary to the originally planned tour, Boric will remain at his home in the capital’s central Yungay district. On Sunday afternoon he shared pictures of a bike ride through the city on his social networks. “Santiago has its beautiful sides in February. I recommend Yungay, go to Parque O’Higgins, Huemul district and walk around San Miguel,” he wrote. From La Moneda, they assured Emol that despite the payroll, the President “will definitely monitor the emergency resulting from the forest fires and receive reports on the liaison ministers.”
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