Chile's next ambassador to Argentina continues to receive criticism

The appointment of Barbara Figueroa, the Chilean communist union leader as the next ambassador to Argentina, sparked a great deal of controversy in Chile over their lack of diplomatic experience and, on the contrary, their history of scandals and public provocations. One of the most remembered, when she broke into a debate in Congress shouting and insulting the then finance minister until she had to be evicted by the carabinieri.

Not only did Gabriel Boric receive criticism from the right-wing opposition, but Figueroa is also beaten by union leaders and the Chilean left.

A teaching unionist, Figueroa became in 2012 the first woman to lead a trade union central in Latin America.

His first controversy as leader of the Single Workers' Confederation (CUT) was around the discussion of the minimum wage for the country's workers. It was 2014, Michelle Bachelet's first term, and the then president of the CUT asked to raise the salary by $12.6 dollars. Figueroa was then heavily criticized because a year earlier, during Sebastian Piñera's first term, the CUT had demanded an increase in remuneration by $63 dollars.

Dog crisis in the CUT ran wild during the elections of the new board of the organization in 2016. Figueroa lost but reported fraud, did not recognize the winning list and that a new election was held. She obtained all this and managed to be re-elected to her post the following year, but the image of the organization was badly damaged.

Half a million of its members left in 2017, the same year that the multi-union was divided in the May Day demonstration on May 1.

The trade unionist Arturo Martínez (Socialist Party), the predecessor of Figuroa as president of the CUT, explained to Infobae that the internal crisis in the union “started there, with all these complaints, with this situation of passing over others, not recognizing reality, not putting the CUT in a place like it was before. That caused severe damage and lack of credibility in the CUT. When she clung to power, when she lost the election, she generated political agreements that affected the CUT.”

Martínez said that: “We should see the state in which the CUT is today, the state in which it left it, in a serious decline, has many internal conflicts, it does not appear, it does not propose, it is a CUT that is passive, that has no initiative, the failure that the CUT is in is because it was shrinking, losing spaces, losing affiliates, the truth is that it became very difficult to live together within the CUT and that is why many of us left”, he said.

Bárbara Figueroa is currently vice president of international relations of the Single Workers' Confederation.

Career

Figueroa was born in Santiago in 1979. His parents were union leaders and members of the Communist Party (CP), a militancy that Figueroa followed. She studied psychology and is a professor of philosophy. At the end of his university career, he led the College of Teachers of Chile, where he had to coordinate the intense student demonstrations in 2011, which were led in parallel by the current government of Gabriel Boric.

In 2012, a list was presented to the front of the new directive of the CUT, a multi-union organization in Chile that was a strong opponent of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, when it was dissolved. This is how she managed to become the first woman to assume the presidency of the plant.

Campaign with Boric

The communist militant reappeared in politics during the last election campaign, supporting Gabriel Boric from the command. The position of trust was at the request of the party to have a greater presence within the nucleus, considering that Camila Vallejo (PC) was a safe name within the government.

The main objective of the team was to make proposals for a tax reform in the country, to review the issues related to mining and energy, the first bills that the Executive should enter, among other issues.

Arrival at the embassy

The former chancellor and former senator, Ignacio Walker referred to the appointment, “the approval will come, the fact that she is a social leader cannot be an argument against it. Nor does it belong to the PC, because it is a legal party and it is the axis of government along with the Broad Front. However, I want to emphasize that there has been a practice in the last 20, 30 years, that must be respected: that career diplomats took over embassies,” said the former Foreign Minister, confirmed.

To this I add that, “the diplomatic staff of the embassy are irreplaceable. Whoever accompanies the ambassador, as minister counsellor and everyone down is all diplomats, these positions must be from the diplomatic career and this is maintained,” he said.

In a similar vein, Arturo Martínez spoke: “I think that, those who have been before have put the name of Chile well in these positions and have had prestige, so I think we should look for a name of the width and that makes the difference that it has to do with this country so close to us, but sometimes there are conflicts. We also need to open up paths for the economic issue, political relations, we need a person with more political stature,” he said.

“It seems to me that an ambassador needs greater credentials, because it is a relationship with such an important country, neighboring as Argentina. President Boric should exercise more caution when he is thinking about filling those positions. Without disqualifying her, I think that a person of greater stature is needed in these positions,” Martinez said. “The truth is that I don't see her as an ambassador, I don't think she has anything effective. If you want to put her in office, find one where she can meet the expectations that people have about public administration,” he concluded.

This Wednesday, the senators of the ruling coalition “Approve Dignity” came out in defense of Figueroa. Through a public statement “they valued the appointment for the first time of a woman in office, which is in line with the feminist discourse of the Government,” they valued Figueroa's trade union career and rejected any type of questioning the nomination.

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