Chilean Interior Minister Victor Pérez announced his resignation on Tuesday after being suspended by the Chamber of Deputies which voted a
“constitutional charge”
against him due to police violence during protests.
"Not only am I suspended, but I am resigning as Minister of the Interior"
declared Victor Pérez to the press in the precincts of Parliament, three months after his appointment to the Interior.
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With 80 votes for, 74 against and one abstention, the deputies approved this
“constitutional accusation”
filed by opposition parliamentarians against the minister.
A constitutional charge is a parliamentary provision that determines the responsibility of senior politicians for a given event.
Opposition parliamentarians accused the minister of negligence during a demonstration by truck drivers in southern Chile, and for his role as superior of the Chilean police, which is blamed for numerous violence against demonstrators during social protests .
The deputies acceded to the opposition's demand when during a demonstration on October 2, a police officer pushed a 16-year-old protester who fell seven meters lower into the dry bed of the Mapocho River, inflicting him with serious injuries to limbs and head.
This episode has revived criticism against police violence, especially during the demonstrations that have rocked the country for a year.
The Senate must now vote on whether Mr. Pérez should be declared ineligible for five years.
Conservative President Sebastian Piñera said in a statement that he accepted the resignation of his minister.
Victor Pérez
"fulfilled all his duties, respected the Constitution and the laws"
, declared the Head of State.
Victor Pérez, 66, is a right-wing politician.
Under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), he was mayor of the city of Los Angeles, in southern Chile.
After having been a senator for a long time, Victor Pérez was appointed Minister of the Interior in July, replacing Gonzalo Blumel.
The latter had himself replaced Andrés Chadwick, cousin of President Piñera, and considered the strong man of the government at the time of the outbreak of the social uprising in October 2019.