Santiago de Chile (EFE).- The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, asked this Monday that “violence never again replaces democratic debate” and said that the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup d’état is an opportunity to “strengthen coexistence.” ”.
“Today we say before Chile and the world: democracy today and always,” said Boric, the most leftist president to come to power since the overthrown Salvador Allende (1970-1973).
In a heartfelt speech, Boric assured that “democracy is a continuous construction” and “the only way to advance to a more just and humane society.”
“Between diversity and among those who think differently, with whom we can build a better society,” said the president, the only one born after the coup, like 70% of Chileans.
Chile reaches 50 years after the coup immersed in great polarization and with a very tense political class that is not capable of reaching consensus on the democratic breakdown.
Isabel Allende highlights memory, but asks for more for Chile
The senator and daughter of the overthrown Chilean president Salvador Allende (1970-1973), Isabel Allende, said this Monday that “memory is democracy and the future” and called for “justice” during the central commemoration of the 50 years of the coup d’état .
“Memory is a first step to reach the truth but we need much more to reach justice and ensure the non-repetition of the events of that day. For this reason, I subscribe to the motto that memory is democracy and the future,” the 81-year-old senator said through tears.
Allende’s daughter described her father as a “social fighter” and an “interpreter of the desires for social justice” and reviewed some of his policies at the head of the Popular Unity Government, such as the fight against child malnutrition and the deepening of agrarian reform.
“I had to be the last person from my father’s entourage to enter the palace that day. We had a mandate to tell, what happened then. What the Popular Unity meant and also the barbarism that was beginning to be imposed,” said Allende, who acknowledged that he does not forget “the last hug” of his father.
The coup of September 11, 1073 led by General Augusto Pinochet began a cruel 17-year dictatorship, which left more than 40,000 victims, including more than 3,200 executed, of which a thousand are still missing.
