The fear of the Concertación

Gabriel Boric and his coalition denounced and criticized for years the work of the Concertación. His judgment regarding that period was not only maximalist, but attributed to those who led the country a perverse and selfish intention. The protagonists of that stage – those to whom the candidate and his supporters sat in the dock of the accused – did not hesitate, however, to give him their support ‘without conditions’ in the face of the second round of the presidential election. 
This unrestricted support may be due to a variety of reasons. One of them is that the representatives of the former Concertación see in José Antonio Kast a figure who represents a real danger to democracy. However, these are experienced politicians, who know that the configuration of Congress will not allow the leader of the Republican Party to interfere at will in too fundamental issues. Another, less plausible option is that the support for Boric responds to a careful strategy that aims to reinstall himself in power in the not too distant future. That, in any case, seems absurd if one takes into account that, before endorsing Boric, they did not strive to demonstrate any authority. A third alternative, for which I am inclined, points to the fear generated in the leaders of the former coalition by the judgment that an entire generation, the one that starred in the social explosion and that leaned at the polls for Boric, can make of them. 
That fear manifested itself vehemently for the first time as soon as the social explosion began. The diagnosis of the Frente Amplio and the Communist Party pointed out that the Concertacionist governments had deepened the neoliberal model and, as a consequence, maintained outrageous inequalities and abuses. The former Concertación felt, quite rightly, pointed with the finger and, instead of defending its legacy and explaining the circumstances that justified its action, which would have done a courageous coalition, they preferred to join the diagnosis of their critics. After a few months, the fearful act ended up becoming a habit for the former Concertación; when attacked they were never blunt in their defenses and excused their conduct in a series of factors that, according to them, escaped their will. 
The unthinking ‘unconditional’ support for Boric also grew out of fear. According to psychologists, this manifests itself in a contradictory logic: it paralyzes or generates a reaction. Both actions occur with some degree of exaggeration. The former Concertación, fearing being branded an accomplice of ‘fascism’ for not giving immediate support to the candidate of Apruebo Dignidad, was stimulated to react to ensure its survival. 
What ends up evidencing the condition in which the former coalition finds itself, however, is not so much their reaction to the situation in which they find themselves, but the way in which they faced it. Their support for Boric seemed more like a willingness to submit, as if, through boric, they were trying to atone for their faults for not having walked the right path. 
 
The content expressed in this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.

Original source in Spanish

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