It is in good Portuguese that the new mayor of Santiago, Irací Hassler, 31, says that she is a fan of MPB and loves Elis Regina. “The language is in my life for the music and for the relatives whom I always visit in Brazil”, she says. With her family on her mother’s side, who left Piauí and now lives in Rio, she also has Brazilian roots in her first name, of Tupi-Guarani origin.
Hassler took over the mayor of the country’s main commune eight months ago — the capital is divided into these subgroups, and that of Santiago corresponds to the historic center and the main neighborhoods —, affiliated with one of the legends of President Gabriel Boric’s support base, the Partido Communist.
She says that she started militancy around 2011, a time of intense student demonstrations that would lead several of her generation’s colleagues into politics, including the newly sworn-in president and now ministers Camila Vallejo and Giorgio Jackson.
On the 19th, Hassler went to a special event for her: at the Municipal Theater, for the first time, the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra was directed by a woman, Alejandra Urrutia, 46. “Feminism is in my management in a transversal way, from the from security to culture. It is not just another sector of government. This is feminist management in all areas”, he told sheet.
How is your relationship with Brazil? My mother was born in Piauí and moved to Rio de Janeiro. When she met my father, who is Chilean, he came to Chile and my brothers and I were born here. But they still dream of returning. My mother’s entire family is still in Rio.
In addition to always speaking Portuguese with her, I have an intense relationship with the culture. I love MPB, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, and I recently discovered Os Mutantes. It’s a way to keep the language always in my head too. Of all the artists, I think one of the ones I like the most is Elis Regina, for her music and her power, her energy.
like mrs. defines your political formation? It started with the student movement. I entered the Universidad de Chile when it was buzzing and became very actively involved. First in the course, in the way economics was taught, then with the issues of society. I think that, for my generation, the student movement was defining, even for those who later decided not to enter politics. It was something for the masses, it sharpened our desire to reflect on the world we live in.
And what is it like to get out of that to the reality of being in the city hall office, managing Santiago? We are a generation that is very aware of responsibility. We are very happy, of course, with this historic moment that gave us the chance to get where we are. But we are aware of what was done to give us this opportunity, of those who fought for the end of the dictatorship, for democracy. It is as if we are part of a much larger reality.
Running the main commune of Santiago, with Boric in the presidency, generates great expectations. Chile is a country of deep inequalities. A lack of access for a large part of the population to elementary rights. Of a great disrespect for our natural resources.
Mrs. started in office before the president, eight months ago. What have been the main challenges so far? I would like this to be a co-management project with the population. But this is difficult to accomplish all at once. I found a lot of precariousness with regard to this relationship and the structure of local government.
I think one of the main concerns of citizens is to recover the jobs that have been lost. But if we, as a new political generation, just hand over the jobs, we’re not doing things right. We want to deliver a new type of job, with a new type of labor participation.
For my part, we have already started a work to recover the green area, to give life to these spaces, a little to signal the importance we give to this for the country. For that, we need more public spaces. I hope that now, with the departure of Sebastián Piñera and the arrival of Boric, we can rely more on the support of the national government.
At the city hall, Mrs. has to deal with the consequences of the migration crisis. How has it been? The commune of Santiago is very diverse, multicultural, as is the country. But here we are getting a huge number of immigration. The migration crisis in the north of the country ends here. I believe that public policies are lacking and, in this sense, I also hope to be able to work better with Boric than I did with Piñera.
I want Santiago to be a welcoming commune. For that, you need to build hostels — and the one we’re building won’t be enough for the number of people who need it — but that’s not all. We want these people to have their social rights respected, to be able to look for jobs, to be citizens regardless of their place of origin. And this needs to go hand in hand with national policies to regulate immigration. Let’s support and follow what the president decides.
There are still many tents in the center of the city, occupied by immigrants who have nowhere to sleep. Yes, it’s a problem that we haven’t been able to solve yet, but, as I said, it depends on several factors, several policies. We are partnering with human rights NGOs, but we need a more active role for the Ministry of Social Development, the government as a whole.
As an economist, how do you see the situation in Chile? Inflation is high (7.7% per year), Congress will debate a new withdrawal of funds from private pensions. Is it an encouraging scenario? Do not. We need Chile to establish a new development model, based not only on extracting our natural resources, but on creating value in our economy. We need to strengthen decent employment in Chile, because this has deteriorated a lot during the pandemic.
Regarding the “fifth retreat”, it is important that the government present a more structural proposal in relation to how to face the problems, in order to avoid reaching that point. a new withdrawal [dos fundos] would further weaken our economy and raise prices. That is why it is necessary to build alternatives, I hope the government can put them on the table in time.
The crackdown on the 2019 protests was brutal. Today, as a local authority, how do you see the need to, for example, stop a protest with tear gas, as happened on the day of Boric’s inauguration? First, it is necessary to protect the right to expression without abusing the use of force. The Piñera government failed in this, because it made bad decisions and because it had a tremendously authoritarian perspective. He declared war on the people of Chile because of the demonstrations. Today I hope that the Ministry of the Interior can do a different job, follow the protests with respect to human rights and take care of public order.
I have always been critical of tear gas bombs because they affect people’s health so much. Better mechanisms must be sought. The fundamental thing is to avoid the violation of human rights and to ensure that the acts allow daily life to continue. We still haven’t found the ideal mechanism for this challenge, but the right to demonstrate will be guaranteed in this administration, it is essential in a democracy. [Na sexta, 25, um estudante foi baleado no tórax por um policial num ato na capital que pedia a revisão do valor do vale-alimentação. A ministra do Interior classificou o fato como gravíssimo.]
Mrs. installed a section in the city hall just for gender issues. How is this working? This will be a cross-cutting feminist management, there will be a gender perspective in all areas. We follow up in the areas of education, culture, security, we carry out training with almost all servers. The idea is that trained employees are in all areas of public attention, from administrative workers to carabineros. [policiais].
Mrs. keep in touch with political figures in Brazil? I was able to meet Anielle Franco, Marielle’s sister [esteve na posse de Boric como convidada], and we got along very well. I have great interest in the struggles of the black community in Brazil and I want to learn more about it, hence the desire to strengthen this bond.
X-ray | Iraci Hassler, 31
Born on November 6, 1990, she has been mayor of the commune of Santiago since June 2021. A former councilor, she was spokesperson for Gabriel Boric’s presidential campaign. She studied economics and engineering at the University of Chile.
