“My impression (…) is that it went well for us.” This is how President Gabriel Boric reflected last Friday at the end of his tour of North America. A positive balance that, together with his Public Account, comes to close the first fortnight of June with happy balances for the Head of State.
After practically 11 weeks in decline, the President managed to stop this month the free fall in the approval of his administration, according to the main surveys.
Proof of this is what was thrown by the last Citizen Pulsecorresponding to the second week of June, which shows that 32.8% approve of his management, increasing by 5.5 points compared to last week (27.3%).
The Public Square survey of Cademcorresponding to the second week of June, showed that approval for the president remained at 44%.
Faced with this scenario, experts suggest precisely that among the factors that explain the good figures are his presidential message at the beginning of this month and his trip to Canada and the United States, an instance in which he held meetings with his peers Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden .
All this, despite mistakes such as the one committed with John Kerry, whom he accused of being absent, without realizing that he was a few steps away from him.
Photo with Trudeau
“Comparative theory tells us that when we evaluate the authorities, in general, what citizens evaluate as positive is that they see themselves as responsible and that they are in control of the situation,” says José Miguel Cabezas, an academic at the research center in society and health U. Mayor.
“Therefore, the public account it gives a semblance of a much more respected authority to the President, and also the international tours do the same: they show how the country is relating and interacting with other nations, practically on a peer-to-peer basis”, he adds.
According to the academic, events such as the Photography of Boric with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, are perceived as recognition. In short, gestures that are valued positively.
“This type of component, added, for example, to international conflicts, is why presidential figures stand out and raise their support, because they show themselves, in practice, being in charge of the situation,” he says.
Meanwhile, Cabezas argues that the fact that Boric has invited important representatives of the business community in the entourage “accounts for this willingness to dialogue, this openness to interact with different actors.”
“And there is also Juan Sutil’s willingness, for example, to accept this invitation because he could perfectly well have entrenched himself and say ‘no President, I’m not going anywhere,’” he argues.
The two Borics
A more critical view is that of the political analyst and academic at the Diego Portales University, Hugo Herrera. In his opinion, the President presents two different facets from each other.
“On tour one got to see those two Borics. Basically, one closer to the Foreign Ministry, to State policies, to a more long-term attitude”, he indicates.
“And there is also the most partisan Boric, the most vociferous, protesting against imperialism, and somewhat clumsy as well. As more of a child, he takes himself very seriously. A Boric with an ego unleashed, so to speak, ”says the doctor of philosophy.
According to Herrera, those two Boric will be the ones who will mark the long trajectory of the government. So, he says, the question to ask is which of the two is going to prevail.
“On that depends not only the success of the government and its ability -for example- to convince the opposition, but also to maintain the national political leadership,” he says.
“Because if the public begins to see a very partisan Boric, that will probably deteriorate his appreciation in the polls, while if the Boric prevails more than the State, I think he could recover or maintain reasonable approval levels,” he adds.
Of course, for the specialist in political issues there are also positive elements that can be drawn cleanly after the state visit. “To be fair, there are things that stand out from the tour, like the closeness he showed with Justin Trudeau”
“But the point is that: if the partisan Boric ends up prevailing, this will remain an anecdote, and could jeopardize the proper conduct of foreign policy in the long term,” he maintains.
Is it anecdotal or atarantamiento?
As indicated, one of the moments that generated various comments was the lapse that President Boric suffered in his speech at the ninth Summit of the Americas, when he criticized the United States for not having representatives in the Americas Coalition for the Protection of the Ocean. , not realizing that a few meters away was John Kerry.
In this regard, Herrera mentions: “I think that three things came together here. On the one hand, there was misinformation from the team that was around him”, he wields.
“I would also say that it was a numbness of Boric himself and a lack of experience. And the third, he was the victim of a rebellious mood, trying to score a cheap point but in the end the matter ends up coming back to him, exploding in his face”, he deepens.
“Basically, there is a lack of experience, poor coordination with the advisers and an ideological numbness,” he concludes.
Cabezas has a different vision, for whom the event barely remains an anecdote. “We understand that it is not a minor error, but for the citizens that matters zero. The vast majority of people have no idea who John Kerry is,” he emphasizes.
Recompose the international image
A similar opinion is held by the academic coordinator of the UDP School of Political Science, Rodrigo Espinoza. The specialist highlights that he showed himself “as a president who is committed to a project of the left different from that of the traditional left, and above all different from what the left of the so-called 21st century socialism was.”
Along the same lines, Espinoza adds that Boric is showing signs of showing, at the international level, “a left with a rather social-democratic spirit, where the free market system seeks to provide it with one more face of social justice, economic justice and so-called environmental justice”.
The important thing is that relations with Canada and the United States have been strengthened, and above all – I think – that Boric’s idea also has to do with rebuilding Chile’s international image.
– Rodrigo Espinoza, academic coordinator of the UDP School of Political Science
For the same reason, the specialist maintains that Boric’s approval levels in the Cadem survey are probably due, in part, to his performance on this tour, “despite the events that have occurred at the domestic level throughout the week.” .
Asked about his impasse with John Kerry, Espinoza ruled out that it could have a cost with the United States, with neighboring countries or even at the domestic level.
“Many times this happens. It is not what is desired, but basically these activities have to do with quite intense meeting agendas, and the leaders are obviously prone to making mistakes of this type, ”he says, mentioning that previous presidents such as Sebastián Piñera and Michelle Bachelet have also experienced .
“But the important thing is that relations with Canada and the United States have been strengthened, and above all – I think – that Boric’s idea also has to do with rebuilding Chile’s international image, which has deteriorated in recent years due to as a result of the suspension of the COP25 and also due to the reports of international organizations linked to human rights violations by the police during the social outbreak”, he concludes.
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