President José Antonio Kast attended the National Meeting of Mayors in La Serena on Thursday, aiming to address municipal criticisms over a Contributions reform and local financing issues.
Kast arrived at Teatro Centenario in La Serena for the meeting organized by the Asociación Chilena de Municipalidades, which gathered more than 200 mayors since Wednesday. During his initial speech, the President was met with shouts and asked attendees for respect. The President stated that municipalism is taken seriously and reiterated that the reform exempting people over 65 from property tax payments on their first home would not affect the Fondo Común Municipal. He noted that 42 municipalities would see more than 1% of their budget impacted, but clarified this was not the majority. Kast also called for rejecting violence in protests and defended Parliament's role in approving reforms. Responding to a question from San Bernardo mayor Christopher White, he said he was not in favor of the Armed Forces broadly taking to the streets. Ministers José García Ruminot and Iván Poduje also attended the event, which sought to ease tensions after prior municipal criticisms of Executive initiatives.
