translated from Spanish: CRUCh targets “civic loyalty” and support health authority efforts

In the context of the serious health and economic crisis caused by Coronavirus, COVID-19, the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), composed of 30 institutions representing the most diverse intellectual and cultural traditions of the country, considered “a civic duty” and a responsibility proper to its mission to call for the “national public consciousness”. In this regard, the CRUCh stated that it is clear that this dangerous emergency that threatens the life and health of thousands of people came to us at a social and political juncture of acute tension and unresolved antagonisms. That this itself led to an institutional process that must lead to relevant political decisions of the greatest scale for national history.” In response to this unfortunate coincidence, we allow ourselves to call all citizens and especially their political representations not to confuse the plans because the country urgently needs at this hour, its greatest cohesion and unity of purpose. That in order to achieve this goal we must be able to depose our mistrusts and prejudices, also the economic or political advantages that we may have one or the other,” he added. In this regard, he argued that “in this sense we must all join in and support the efforts being made by the health authority, our government and the political system as a whole, civic loyalty that does not certainly exclude discrepancy or legitimate, respectful and well-founded criticism.” In line with the social function we fulfill in the task of generating and providing knowledge to society, our universities will continue to offer and collaborate with all their available resources, from their research centres, with their professionals and experts, as well as with their COVID-19 diagnostic laboratories and the production of inputs that can be in support of the protection of people” Added. He also raised “publicly thanking, on behalf of our university communities, all persons who are serving in public or private health facilities, clinical laboratories or other service areas, whether in security, administration, transportation, sourcing or others, as these Chileans and Chileans make possible the protection of all others, sometimes at serious risk of their own safety or integrity.” When we emerge from this health crisis whose economic and social effects will be very serious and longer, we will be ad portas of a constitutional plebiscite or other institutional decisions relevant to Chile. It will be much better to arrive at that time after a careful, visible and convincing effort of cohesion and social solidarity,” he reaffirmed. In this regard, he concluded that “for such reasons we allow ourselves this time, beyond what we always do given the role of cruCH, to call for each and every one of us to contribute whenever civic altruism itself is necessary, rather than placing or appealing to others.” The best democratic and republican vocation for this dramatic disruption of public and private life will be the one that makes us able to identify how to overcome together the health dangers and damage that already plague the country, but also to overcome today and tomorrow the pain and the serious consequences of the economic losses that people, businesses and the country will have” , emphasized the CRUCh.

Original source in Spanish