Everything was ready for the tour the United Nations in New York to which President Gabriel Boric will depart with his team on Monday at 13:00. Lucía Dammert, the head of advisors of the Second Floor, was not only part of the delegation, but she was the one who defined the entire agenda. That until today, when at 10:15 in the morning the sociologist presented her resignation to the President, which was confirmed by the Presidency through a statement in which it was also reported that Miguel Crispi (RD) will take over as his replacement. Even during the morning, Dammert’s resignation was marked on Boric’s public agenda, which is published on the Presidency’s website.
Dammert’s departure did not generate surprise in the ruling party and neither in those close to him. In recent weeks he had been relegating his role and had lost prominence in La Moneda, so much so that after the change of cabinet the President asked him for the available position and at least since Monday there was talk of an imminent departure. In the government, yes, they hoped that the sociologist would finalize it after the tour of the United States.
But everything intensified after the incorporation of Crispi to the team of advisers, who had to leave the Undersecretary of Regional Development (Subdere) to let him the place to Nicolás Cataldo (PC)after his appointment to the Undersecretary of the Interior was frustrated. At that time, due to the claims of the PC, the President made the decision to remove Crispi so that he could reach the Second Floor. Dammert, they say in the government, was one of those who opposed that determination, which was not liked by the Frente Amplio wing of La Moneda, because Cataldo is very close to the President and to ministers Antonia Orellana and Camila Vallejo.
But the solution for the PC it was a problem for Democratic Revolutiona party that was dissatisfied with the decision and that also lost its place in the political committee with the transfer from Minister Giorgio Jackson to Social Development.
It was in this scenario that there were talks between the DR board, led by Senator Juan Ignacio Latorre, and the Presidency to evaluate the profile of Crispi’s position -who in his new role will integrate the political committee-since from the Broad Front there was a consensus criticism of the role that the team of advisers was assuming, more focused on a technical profile and away from political management.
Latorre, consulted by La Tercera PM, did not refer to the subject.
“Putting Lucía Dammert in the second Second Floor was just as risky as putting an independent like Izkia Siches in Interior and not someone from Approve Dignity. A mistake was made when appointing technical staff in areas that are indeed political, beyond the respect that exists for their academic career. The head of advisors is not just coordinating minutes, and she was not asked to be a political “doll”. This was not raised before, because we gave him the benefit of the doubt”, says a source from the Broad Front.
Another source from Approve Dignidad assures that the idea now is to be able to change the approach of the advisory team with the arrival of Miguel Crispi and that the former deputy is already working on that. now dHe must name his replacement in the Presidential Commitments Follow-up Unita position he had initially taken in place of Diego Pardow, who took over as Minister of Energy and took his team to the portfolio: his chief of staff, Luis Díaz, and his chief adviser, Victoria Galleguillos, they worked with him on the Second Floor. But replacing him will not be enough, because in La Moneda there is already talk of a refocusing of the team after Dammert’s departure.
Boric meets Crispi since 2009 when both were student leaders. In fact, those close to the President assure that in recent times he highly values the advice of the former deputy, who accompanied him in his office on the day of the plebiscite and who also participated in the last minute decisions during the cabinet change. “The President believes that Crispi will be a contribution, he is one of those who makes constructive criticism”, comments someone close to Boric.
In any case, in La Moneda and in the DR they deny that Crispi’s arrival at the headquarters of the Second Floor was a party demand. And they also emphasize that Dammert had internal disagreements with the president’s chief of staff, Matías Meza-Lopehandíaand their closest environment regarding criteria and political definitions.
The discrepancies of Lucía Dammert with the Socialist Party are better known, since they have been dragging on since the second government of Michelle Bachelet, when the sociologist left the Ministry of the Interior for, among other reasons, her estrangement from Mahmud Aleuy (PS). These differences revived during this government, since part of that team works with Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve.
In fact, in La Moneda they say that it was known that Dammert could not share meetings with members of Monsalve’s cabinet.
But there were also problems in the ways of maintaining relations with the Foreign Ministry, led by Antonia Urrejola, also close to the Socialist Party. The first complaints came after the tour to the Summit of the Americas that took place in June in Los Angeles, United Statesyes On that occasion, the complaint from the PS was that the Second Floor was not competent to get involved in foreign policy matters and that they felt that Dammert was assuming a lot of prominence. Since then, the relationship between the two teams was tense.
For next week’s tour there were also differences. Parliamentarians of Democratic Socialism confess that from the Congress they expressed their disagreement with the organization of the same due to the low participation of congressmen. For now, the only one who will attend will be Senator Isabel Allende (PS), who will travel to pay tribute to her father.
In this context, in the face of the constant demands of the Democratic Socialism and Approve Dignity parties, in La Moneda they assure that Dammert was disillusioned with the handling of political parties, for the forms and for criticism that she often felt was unfair in the face of the effort she put into the campaign last year, when she was one of the spokespersons. In any case, those who heard about the conversation with the President assure that it was in a good tone and that the sociologist will continue to collaborate on some things with the government, but that her focus will return to the academy.
This is confirmed by someone close to the now former head of advisers: “She will return to the university and her previous life, outside the government.”