The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, met on Friday with his predecessor, the conservative Sebastián Piñera, with the aim of promoting a joint declaration between the different political forces on the 50th anniversary of the coup. The meeting took place in the presidential palace of La Moneda just ten days after the commemoration of the military coup against the democratically elected president Salvador Allende, which is reopening the polarization in Chile.
Boric announced in July his intention to promote a common declaration, something that is directly opposed by both the traditional right-wing Chile Vamos – the coalition with which Piñera governed – and the far-right Republican Party, led by José Antonio Kast.
“The intention of the president [Boric] is to build transversal consensus in our country and for that, obviously, the former presidents are key, because they have had to lead complex processes,” explained the government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo. The spokeswoman added that “regardless of political differences”, it is important to commit to defending democracy and human rights “always, under any circumstances”.
“We believe that it is fundamental that this [the declaration] is not just a government issue, but that it is also an issue for all political sectors,” Vallejo explained.
Next September 11 marks the 50th anniversary since General Augusto Pinochet led a coup against the government of Socialist President Salvador Allende (1970-1973), who committed suicide in the presidential palace of La Moneda before being caught by the soldiers, who bombarded the building at will.
The coup was the beginning of a cruel dictatorship that lasted 17 years and which left a balance of more than 40,000 victims, including at least 3,200 murdered opponents, of whom 1,469 were victims of forced disappearance. After the meeting, Piñera affirmed that “many mistakes were made during and after September 11, 1973”, in the military regime, but also during the government of Allende’s Popular Unity.
“That is what we want to prevent from happening again,” stressed the former president, who was willing to support the declaration sought by the Executive and asked to contribute “by September 11 to unite all Chileans and not divide them.” .
Piñera, who governed in non-consecutive terms 2010-2014 and 2018-2022, added that the commemoration of the coup d’état “is a very good opportunity for us in Chile to renew our total and absolute commitment to democracy, the Constitution, respect to the rule of law (…) and the condemnation of all types of violence”.
