The coffin of former President Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014, 2018-2022), who died in a plane accident on Tuesday, arrived this Wednesday shortly after noon in Santiago from the Los Ríos region, in the south of Chile, after the of him piloted helicopter shot down at Lake Ranco. They covered him with a Chilean flag on the Air Force Group 10 runway where President Gabriel Boric was waiting for him, a gesture that is not in official protocol. The president, accompanied by three of his ministers, expressed his condolences to Piñera's visibly affected immediate family. Boric hugged former first lady Cecilia Morel for a long time, who received many expressions of affection from citizens. “Strength, Cecilia!” shouted the citizens who were waiting to say goodbye in the former National Congress in the center of the capital.
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Also on the runway were Interior Minister Carolina Tohá and Speaker Camila Vallejo, as well as Chancellor Alberto van Klaveren, who was responsible for directing the state funeral. Air Force officials honored Piñera in Group 10 in front of Cecilia Morel and her four children: Magdalena, Cecilia, Sebastián and Cristóbal.
Gabriel Boric with the family of Sebastián Piñera and government officials, this Wednesday at Santiago airport. Cristóbal Venegas
Since this afternoon, the Piñera takes place in the Hall of Honor of the former Congress, its doors are open to the public for two days. The casket was said to arrive at the historic building around 11:30 a.m., where friends, former authorities and hundreds of supporters waited on the street, singing the national anthem, waving flags and even holding placards with his presidential photo. However, time passed and there was no news. The police officers themselves, lining up to receive him, had to leave their seats to hydrate themselves and seek shelter from the harsh sun. He finally arrived with his immediate family shortly after 4:15 p.m.
In the former National Congress, four ministers from Boric's cabinet, Carolina Tohá, Camila Vallejo, as well as the heads of the Justice Department, Luis Cordero, and the heads of the Ministry of Finance, Mario Marcel, were part of the guard of honor. They stood on either side of the coffin and as they left, those present applauded them.
On the street, under umbrellas and with fans, because of the 33 degree temperature in Santiago, people said that they didn't mind not going inside to say goodbye to Piñera and that just seeing the body walk by was enough. “I think he will be remembered as a hero. Your rapid intervention in the global vaccine pandemic saved many lives,” says Loreto Codoce, 60, an entrepreneur who moved to the center of the capital mainly from the municipality of San Miguel. As soon as the coffin arrived at around 4:15 p.m., after a long and hot wait, people exploded on the street: “Piñera, friend, the people are with you!”
Piñera's former political colleagues walked around and shared stories. Gonzalo Blumel, his former interior minister, did not hesitate to call him the most important center-right leader of the 21st century, highlighting his most sensitive side. Mario Desbordes, the president's former defense minister and National Renewal party partner, recalled pestering Piñera about running for president again just over a month ago. He said he laughed and reiterated that the center-right needed to be strengthened amid populist threats. Senator Iván Moreira of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) said: “I put my hands to the fire for Piñera and I do not burn them because of his conviction that he is committed to the defense of human rights and democracy.”
The Hall of Honor initially only received those who were closest to the former president. With loud applause they received Morel, who greeted them from a distance while their children hugged the coffin. The family quickly departed, giving access to the businessman and politician's patient supporters who were waiting under the sun. Cristián Moreno, a 55-year-old businessman, said enthusiastically: “It was the first right-wing government since Jorge Alessandri (1958-1964) and it made us grow stronger than now.” “Time will prove him right.” This idea will repeated among those present: that the poor reception with which he left his second government and the specter of social collapse are being pushed into the background by his successes such as the reconstruction after the earthquake and tsunami of 2010 and the guaranteed universal pension ( PGU ).
State funerals last three days. This Wednesday, the former congress will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will welcome those who want to say goodbye before the funeral scheduled for Friday. Prosecutors confirmed this morning the former president's cause of death: asphyxiation by submersion. The other three companions, his sister Magdalena, businessman Ignacio Guerrero – a close friend of Piñera – and his son Bautista Guerrero, jumped out of the plane.
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