Alberto Espina: “Sebastián Piñera always had an outlet that relieved the tension”

It was in 1989 when Alberto Espina (Santiago, 67 years old) met Sebastián Piñera.

It was in the command of Hernán Büchi, the then presidential candidate of the right who competed for La Moneda with the Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the standard bearer of the Concertación who, finally, became the first president of Chile in democracy after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Espina is one of the founders of Renovación Nacional (RN), the party of Piñera, who died on Tuesday in an accident after the helicopter he was piloting fell into Lake Ranco, in southern Chile.

Not only were they friends, but they were also part of a political generation of the center-right, along with Andrés Allamand and the mayor of Providencia Evelyn Matthei, of the UDI, today the main figure of the traditional right.

The group, baptized in the 90s as

The Youth Patrol

, was a protagonist in the democratic transition, which began in 1990 with Aylwin.

The lawyer was a RN deputy for three terms (1990-2002) and a senator twice (2002-2018).

When Piñera was elected president, he was his Minister of Defense in his second Administration.

Currently, Alberto Espina is a counselor of the State Defense Council (CDE), a position to which the former president appointed him in November 2020.

Espina remembers that Piñera, despite the fact that they played soccer and tennis together and that their families are close, that in La Moneda he separated the waters.

He smiles when he remembers that when the former president believed that everything was working well in the Defense portfolio, he referred to him as

Alberto

.

On the other hand, if he considered that there was something to modify or it did not seem to him, he called him

a minister

.

Ask.

What impression did you have of Sebastián Piñera when you met him?

Answer.

He worked on Hernan Büchi's campaign.

At that time we met with Andrés Allamand and Sebastián because we wanted him to be the candidate for senator for Santiago and we convinced him.

I was also a candidate for senator and so we became very friends.

I was impressed by the simplicity of a person who had always been so successful in business, and who never lost his mind.

He was also brilliant.

P.

Piñera came from another world, from a Christian Democrat family, and from having voted NO to Pinochet in the 1988 plebiscite. They had been on different sides.

Did you guys talk about that when you met?

A.

We were clear that we had to build a modern center-right, very committed to democracy.

Capable of defending our principles with loyalty, dedicating more to demonstrating to the citizens what we wanted for Chile, than spending time criticizing our adversaries.

And, above all, that Chile required a center-right with a strong democratic commitment and freedom.

With the idea that one enters public service so that one can collaborate within one's capabilities so that the country progresses and people can have a better quality of life.

There The Youth Patrol

was formed

with Evelyn Matthei and Allamand.

We made a life together.

We promoted the democracy of agreements, which was resisted by some sectors.

Q.

How do you remember the period of democracy of the agreements?

A.

The military government had just ended.

Chile had returned to democracy, it had reestablished its democratic systems, we were in a transition process.

It was very important that efforts be made to establish certain State policies so that, together, we could collaborate so that democracy was strengthened and the country's way of development bore fruit for all Chileans.

And, therefore, bills were promoted that we considered essential so that the country could reach degrees of consensus and agreements that would allow us all to push the cart in the same direction.

Q.

Why do you think Piñera did not militate in the Christian Democracy, which was his family party, and he did militate in the right?

R.

I think he was attracted to this new center-right that was being created and that he led.

He considered that it was a great opportunity to create a great reference that would lead the changes that Chile needed and that would one day lead us to government, and it turns out that it was, because he governed Chile twice.

That was the result of the work that he began to do since that time.

Q.

What do you think was the shadow of Sebastián Piñera?

Some say it could have been a combination of politics and business.

A.

When Sebastián began to dedicate himself to politics in the year 90, I saw that he did it all the time.

At a time of taking paths, he focused on public service.

And that was what allowed him to go to school and leave a legacy, as he is leaving now.

Q.

What is that legacy?

A.

There are three legacies.

The first is a democratic vocation etched in stone.

It was necessary to respect the democratic rules and win within these rules.

And there was no justification for skipping them.

We were against the appointed senators, and then we wanted the Constitution to end authoritarian enclaves and we fought hard for that.

We made sure that these ideas were well understood and we defended them with conviction and without duplicity.

And I think that was the success.

Q.

And the other legacies?

A.

The culture of doing things well.

Sebastián was always worried and emphasized that, when it came to the money of all Chileans, it had to be taken care of and the job done well, that it was not enough to say

I did it more or less

.

The third legacy was his infinite capacity to face adversity with courage and carry out things that were very difficult.

For example, the earthquake of 2010. It was devastating, a few days before he assumed his first government.

It was a gigantic effort that allowed one third of Chile to be rebuilt.

Then came the rescue of the 33 miners, which was very difficult.

Many people told him that perhaps it would be convenient for the government to recognize that it was not possible to do it because, if it was later recognized that it could not be done, it would have a negative political effect.

But Sebastián was convinced that the miners could be alive and insisted on rescuing them.

Q.

In your second Administration you were affected by the social outbreak.

You were Minister of Defense.

How did they live it?

A.

The social outbreak was absolutely surprising.

We realized a few days later that the purpose was, for some extreme left sectors, to overthrow the Government of President Piñera.

And then there was a dilemma in November to see if the Armed Forces left for the second time, when they were once again looting the country, or if progress was made along the institutional line, which was to create a transversal political agreement.

And he made that decision.

He was many times misunderstood.

But, finally, that agreement allowed us to avoid bloodshed that would have been very painful, very long, very intense and with a lot of collateral damage.

He did all this with great strength and conviction.

Q.

There were sectors that criticized Piñera a lot at that time. How did he experience that stage?

A.

It was a very hard stage.

But he had very great resilience.

He clearly pointed out to us that the path we were going to follow was not going to be easy, but full of obstacles.

But that was what he believed was best for Chile and he was right.

Q.

Then comes the pandemic.

A.

I was appointed as Minister of Defense.

The mobilization of the Armed Forces was a super complex issue.

He was always on top of the issues, but he was very communicative.

He listened, asked and solved.

I remember an anecdote.

When I was a minister he had two ways of referring to me.

If it was to tell me that something had gone well, Alberto would tell me;

But if he had any doubts or questions, he called me minister.

He told me: 'please come to La Moneda.'

Q.

Were they about you or you in the Government?

R.

From you, always.

There is a republican tradition that must be respected.

The president is the president.

He knew how to mix things very well.

And in the most tense moments, he always had an outlet that relieved the tension.

Q.

How did you do it?

A.

He told some anecdote from the past.

He also had tremendous resilience.

And I think that was a product of his conviction.

Because, when you do things with a clear conscience, and you have the conviction of doing the right thing, you know the path to follow.

And when it was necessary to straighten out, change course and correct it, he did it.

He had pragmatism about it.

Q.

What is extinguished on the right with the death of Sebastián Piñera?

A.

By far, the most powerful leadership that the right has had, there is no doubt about that.

Because he continued to have very strong leadership.

His call was extraordinary.

But this [death] is also a challenge, because you have to take the baton of command that he had so that others assume it with the same strength that he had.

Above all, incorporating new generations.

That was very important and he knew it.

There is a responsibility to take his legacy and project it.

Q.

Who are those called to receive that baton?

A.

I don't like to name names because I think it's unfair.

But he had concern for young people.

He met a lot with young people.

He always talked.

And he was concerned about giving them more and more prominence.

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