Pérez Yoma slips up after returning from vacation to assume the Vice presidency

SANTIAGO.- The minister of Interior, Edmundo Pérez Yoma was smiling and relaxed following his return from a 10-day vacation in Italy.  The government official was so relaxed that he suffered a slip of the tongue that prompted more than one guffaw after receiving honors from the Palace guards as he assumed his role as Vice President of the Republic.

The incident occurred when Pérez Yoma was asked if he had been brought up to date about what had happened in Chile while he was gone.  The minister apologized, saying that he had arrived in the country at 8:00 AM today and that is why, before making any statements, “I am first going to meet with Minister Viera-Gallo in my office, and then with Minister Belisario.... ah!”

The mention of his fellow party-member and predecessor, Belisario Velasco (DC), prompted both Patio Los Cañones audience members and even Pérez Yoma himself to chuckle.

The minister quickly corrected himself however, saying that he actually wanted to meet with the head of Finance, Andrés Velasco.