I am writing this column today, February 7, one day after the tragic death of former President Sebastián Piñera, to share our history, the relationship we have built and the high opinion I have of him.
Exactly 14 years ago, on February 7, 2010, he called me. Like yesterday I was on vacation in Villarrica. In this column I would like to briefly recount this conversation and the last one we had a few days ago, without realizing that it would be the last.
The first conversation took place weeks after my victory in the second round of the presidential election in January 2010. He called me to tell me three things. First, he thanked me very sincerely for what I had done to help him win the presidential election. A year earlier he had told him that he would win with a sense of triumph that he estimated at two to three points for a presidential election. He asked me to explain what it was and asked me to work on maintenance. Correct, he received 51.61% and Eduardo Frei 48.39%.
Secondly, thank you for the cabinet proposal I sent you. The day he was named president-elect by the Electoral Tribunal, he wanted me to accompany him to the ceremony. After her, without knowing it, we flew parallel from Tobalaba towards the south. When we reported to the tower near Chillán, he told me that we should change the channel to chat because he wanted to ask me something. In this conversation he asked me to send him the cabinet that I would make. I made it the next day and sent it to him. He told me that he would announce it on Wednesday morning and name several ministers that I had suggested to him.
The third problem was that he would not remove senators from Congress as proposed. He told me that he had changed his mind and gave me a long explanation why. Faced with my silence, he asked me what I thought and I told him that the first thing he did was thank me for what we had done to make his dream of becoming president come true and that now he could make my dream come true As a priest he told me he wouldn't do it (the others were Allamand and Chadwick). He told me that I couldn't tell him that. “You know I say what I think,” I said to him, adding: “President, I am a very presidential person. “If the President believes it is better not to remove senators, I will turn the tide and be counted on to do whatever you deem appropriate.” He quickly replied that he urgently needed a meeting with me need and we agreed to do this on Wednesday. I was surprised by his interest in speaking as he would be announcing his cabinet in the morning that day. Nothing went as we had agreed as I was admitted to the hospital that day in severe pain due to an infection in my wrist. He told me that he would stop by the room at nine in the evening. He arrived on time and left after eleven in the evening. That was our first serious, in-depth conversation with a government perspective. After so many differences and disagreements, I started getting to know him that night. The character and priorities of the statesman who stood out in his two terms as president were on display.
I told this episode because 14 years later he called me again for a meeting. Before he came to Villarrica, he asked me to go to his office. We had a long conversation that ended with an invitation to Chichi (my wife) to spend a few days at her house on Lake Ranco. Fate wanted something completely different. I will remember our pleasant and interesting conversation and also your concerns.
He was particularly loving. He went and asked about Chichi and my children. Then he asked me in detail how I was doing. From then on we talked about the land and rights. As always, it was very interesting to hear what he thought we should do. We agree on all the diagnoses and what to do. The most complicated thing was how to achieve it.
This was my first and last conversation with former President Sebastián Piñera. In between, 14 years passed, eight of which he was our president and in his first term he honored me by appointing me as his economics minister. By the way, we had hundreds of conversations over this long period of time and I think I got to know him very well, both personally and politically. Intelligent and hard-working like no other. Hardworking, rigorous, persistent. Chile was fortunate to have him as president at the most opportune time.
No one could better guide the country's fortunes after the February 27 earthquake than him. He led the reconstruction in record time. No politician would have completed this gigantic task with the brilliance with which he did it. How much suffering could be avoided by prioritizing construction and the thousands of homes that needed to be rebuilt? The rescue of the 33 miners is another episode that faithfully represents him, where, regardless of the risk and against the opinion of everyone around him, he risked everything to save our compatriots.
In the second period, he had to face two major challenges, the social outbreak and the pandemic. The second reaffirms his well-known managerial ability, his characteristic efficiency and his sense of urgency. Together with his health ministers, he managed to ensure that Chile was a model for the world in the way he dealt with it. But the first showed his other side, that of the Democrat who was intimidated neither by the violent criminals who tried to overthrow him nor by the vocal supporters who called for the use of force. With an institutional and peaceful solution, he broke the traditional path of institutional crises that have often destroyed our democracy. This also had to contend with the worst opposition the country has had since the return to democracy.
I think he hasn't ruled out a third period. He loved challenges. He was a great civil servant and was concerned about how the country could return to the development path and solve the problem of insecurity and drug trafficking. Maybe he was the man who could give us back the security and peace that Chileans so desperately crave.
He left us a great man who could have lived an infinitely more pleasant and comfortable life with his loved ones, but he chose to make great sacrifices and commit himself to public service to help those most in need. They were shocking, hard and tragic hours, because we know that with his typical energy, passion and consistency with which he took on all his challenges, he could and would have served for a long time.
Pablo Longueira He was President of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) and Minister of Economy during the first government of former Chilean President Sebastián Piñera (2010–2014).
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