vice Social Convergence: "From feminism we have said that the Ministers of Women have not been up to the task"

This Friday, the president-elect Gabriel Boric ended the mystery and publicly presented the cabinet of 24 ministers that will accompany him in his government, since he formally takes office on March 11.

To delve into the appointments and how they affect the objectives of the Appruebo Dignidad government program, CNN Chile spoke with Francisca Perales, vice president of Social Convergence, the party of the elected president Boric, in an interview where she addressed the importance of areas such as feminism, economy, culture, social outbreak and even lithium.

Destacando el celebrado nombramiento de 14 mujeres ministras en el nuevo gabinete, que supera a la cantidad de hombres, resalta el nombre de la nueva jefa de la cartera de Mujer y Equidad de Género, Antonia Orellana, periodista, ex candidata a convencional constituyente y reconocida activista feminista, quien se ha especializado en temas de violencia contra la mujer. “Nos llena de orgullo que Antonia, que es militante de nuestro partido, haya sido nombrada para el cargo”, afirmó Perales, añadiendo que “destacar que desde el feminismo hemos venido diciendo que los últimos cuatro años, en el gobierno de Sebastián Piñera, las ministras no han estado a la altura“.

“The feminist organizations that come from the social world have also denounced it,” Perales recalled, “by the way, the ministers have not had the powers to be able to take charge of that particular portfolio and that they have not promoted agendas that favor feminist issues either. ”.

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Instead, he maintained, "we believe that Antonia will be able to take charge of promoting an agenda that allows promoting women's rights and also embodying what we said during the campaign from the primaries: Feminism must be mainstreamed in all axes." In this line, he maintained, "we believe that the challenge of the Ministry for Women that Antonia Orellana is going to lead is to put, precisely, that feminist agenda permeating the entire State", adding that "therefore, its incorporation into the political committee will be key to implement that reading, actions or gender policies that allow guidelines to be given where public policies are planned”.

Regarding the appointment of Marcela Ríos as Minister of Justice and Human Rights, and the discussion that is currently taking place in the National Congress for the amnesty project for the so-called "prisoners of the outbreak", consulted about the responsibility that the leader will have when eventually sign said initiative, Perales maintained that "obviously, it is the responsibility of any minister or minister to have to carry out agendas that have been of national interest", arguing that, from Social Convergence, "It seems to us that, more than the responsibility of a Minister, it is a responsibility of the State to be able to clarify all the events that occurred in the social outbreak."

Regarding the diversity of positions and trends within the future cabinet, asked how coexistence around key projects, such as 40 working hours, will manifest itself, Perales reaffirmed that "what we believe and what the president believes is that the meaning of the program is fundamental", adding that "it is a transformative program and that, within what has happened in the country in recent years, it has to take charge of the economic reactivation and take charge of the crisis, for Therefore, we believe in inter-ministerial work (...) and that all the ministers have an unrestricted commitment to advance the program, so the role of Mario Marcel [Finance] will be to provide economic conditions and support to implement the public policies that we will develop“.

Regarding the challenges that the new government and its head of energy, Claudio Huepe, also a Social Convergence militant, will face with lithium and its controversial tender, Perales pointed out that "it seems to us that the outgoing government is trying to leave a mooring to a lithium concession, with a natural asset that is under discussion in the constituent process”.

Finally, regarding the appointment of the anthropologist Julieta Brodsky in Culture, which has been positively received among the different guilds, he stressed that it seeks to bring to the forefront and that "we want to recognize the work generated by people linked to the world of cultures and the arts, recalling that "we are going to increase the budget in this area by a significant percentage".