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New president focuses on future while reconciling the past
This is the reality that Ricardo Lagos Escobar encountered last March when he was enacted as the third president of the political coalition that came to be after the dictatorship, also known as "La Concertacion para la Democracia.” The margin that gave victory to the first socialist president since Allende’s government was less than 3percent. A significant aspect of the election escorting Chile into the next millennium was the tight race that Lagos and Joaquin Lavin lived, which evidenced the historical division between the left and the right political platforms. However, both candidates in their respective campaigns concurred on the issues important to Chileans: the economy’s recovery, unemployment, healthcare, education and public safety, among others. Given this, the newly appointed president emphasized in his inaugural speech that he will be "the president of all Chileans," including those who voted against him. Today, President Lagos, who has shared his private and public life with Luisa Duran de la Fuente for nearly three decades, receives a country that is consolidating the changes commenced in the nineties, while recovering from the upheavals of external economic forces.
Lagos is not a new face in Chile’s public sector. He has been professor and secretary general of the University of Chile. During the first "Concertation" (coalition) government under President Patricio Aylwin, he served as minister of education in charge of an education reform based on equal opportunities and academic quality. Then, in Eduardo Frei’s government, he was the minister of public works from 1994 to 1998. Among his tasks and accomplishments were a concession system for developing the country’s infrastructure, including areas such as water sewerage systems, creation of new road networks and road connections to the neighboring countries.
He also played a significant role in the process of re-establishing Chile’s democracy during the late 1980s. Moreover, he is one of the 12 members of the International Socialist Committee, along with world leaders such as Felipe Gonzalez and Grö Bruntland, and is responsible for developing proposals to renovate the social-democratic views for the new century. Currently, Lagos has stressed his commitment to democracy, through his firm and non-binding response to the impeachment case against Pinochet.
"My government will not interfere in the decisions by the courts of justice, because that would be an attempt against the foundations of the republic. Whatever be those decisions, as president of the republic, I will demand respect for judicial independence and for the rulings of the judiciary. The independence of the courts is one of the pillars of the state of law. …We cannot allow political or any other type of interventions to erode, once again, the authority of our Judicial Branch," expressed Lagos in front of Parliament and the millions of Chileans observing his Presidential Address on May 21.
With a strong character, candid personality and hands-on approach, Lagos began his tenure with a ready-to-rumble momentum that has each and every member of his governing team running to meet results proposed by his government program: "to grow with equality". As a sign of openness and proximity to the people, La Moneda, the presidential palace, has been opened so that the public can flow in and out of its courtyards. His goal is to "lead Chile to the maximum of its possibilities in order to become by 2010 a fully developed and integrated country." Why 2010? Because it is the date when Chile will commemorate 200 years as a free nation.
"What has driven my public life has been the possibility of transforming society to construct a nation where democracy, liberty and equality are conjured," reflected Lagos during his presidential address. Therefore, he has proclaimed his government as one of reforms within the social, political, economic and cultural realms.
In continuing the changes commenced by preceding governments, Lagos has expressed his particular commitment to those pertaining to the judicial and education systems. With respect to the first, the focus is the consolidation of judicial independence and the implementation of orality in legal procedures. As for education, Lagos has promised that no school will be without Internet access by the end of his six-year mandate.
He has segmented the envisioned reforms under three major pillars, as he said during his speech.
The first focuses on "opening the doors to development.” The government’s objective is to make accessible the benefits of the country’s economic growth and from its integration to the technological revolution to all social classes. A priority that he has placed in the forefront of each reform and as a standard of his government is the convergence of Internet not only to all the sectors of the economy, but also, to every aspect of Chilean society.
The second is "the modernization of Chile,” through adequate services and infrastructure, a less centralized government and more responsibility to the regions.
The third is to "heighten the spirit of all Chileans.” By this, Lagos wants to strengthen people’s freedom; promote participation; extend knowledge, culture and science; incorporate the country to the new economy, and invigorate the sense of community and family.
Under the above-mentioned steles lie the president’s priorities, which include:
Many of the challenges this new government confronts are no different from those most emerging countries are facing with globalization. Chile is striving to meet them. In its first three months in office, Lagos’ government has shown stamina, determination and the will to transform Chile into an economic, democratic and social model for Latin America.
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Table of Contents New president focuses on future while reconciling the past |
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Over the last decade, Chile has experienced a significant transformation in all of its spheres. Politically, it reclaimed its democracy after 17 years under the authoritarian regime of General Augusto Pinochet. Economically, the country amplified its economy, with an average growing rate of 7percent, and consolidated its unilateral compromise to free commerce. Perhaps the most personal and controversial transformation has been, and still is, confronting and healing human rights issues that have divided this nation for nearly two decades. Two other events may be added to this scenario: Firstly, the Asian crisis, which not only slotted Chile’s economy during the last two years but also affected even the most buoyant businesses, consequently increasing the unemployment rate. Secondly, the return of Pinochet to face trial, which awakened the country’s enrooted partisanship.
Concerning human rights, a mesa de dialogo (dialogue table), composed of civilians and military officials, has been assembled to investigate the whereabouts of political prisoners that disappeared during the military regime and to work out a solution to these human rights issues. Lagos has supported their efforts and is encouraging them to find the truth in order for Chile to overcome this haunting past, heal its wounds and move forward into the new era.