The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, highlighted this Saturday the historical link between his country and Spain, forged in recent decades through cultural exchange with the exiles of the Civil War and, above all, through the joint defense of both countries. in favor of democratic values ??during the “dark times” of the dictatorships of Francisco Franco and Augusto Pinochet.
In a speech at the Casa de América and among references to the poetry of Miguel Hernández, Boric has also warned of the rise of extremism, regardless of their ideology, and proposed a solution based on empathy and “more democracy.” that unites us”, Boric declared, “is related to the experience of our dictatorships, of our struggles to recover democracy”, through “laborious, firm and setback efforts to build a regime of freedoms and greater equality”.
In a brief historical review that began with the Civil War, Boric has defended that both peoples “share the experience of having experienced autocratic and brutal regimes with different contexts” and has highlighted, however, that Chile “had a fortune derived from a tragedy , which was receiving the enriching and vital current of the Spanish exile in crucial decades for our productive, artistic and intellectual development”.
“Our homeland, Chile, will never forget the lesson of solidarity and love across the Atlantic and that will always accompany us”, he said, before remembering the poet from Alicante “perhaps because I have felt his heart close, close to me, almost touching mine'”.
When talking about dictatorships, Boric called for the need to remember the past as a reference for today. “Five decades later it still makes sense to remember these events, because they are very present, because they are an open wound, because we are looking for our disappeared, but because we defend democracy as (Salvador) Allende defended it until the last day of his life today in day is tremendously important,” he said.
All in all, the Chilean president wanted to emphasize that the appearance of totalitarian regimes does not depend on an ideology before giving the example of Nicaragua, whose leader, the former Sandinista Daniel Ortega, is now the object of international criticism for his disdain for the Human rights.
“There are times, as Nicaragua reminds us, when dressing as ‘red and black’,” he indicated in reference to the colors of Sandinismo, “means nothing: the values ??and principles that should move us is unrestricted respect for human rights always and everywhere”.
“No difference”, Boric continued, “justifies the violation of Human Rights and the awareness that the problems of democracy are solved with more democracy, not less”, the Chilean president has settled.
From there, Boric has addressed those who “propose as a solution to current problems to limit freedoms, take away the rights of others, censor, deny, the rights of migrant women, workers, deny what they do not like”; a threat “increasingly present in Europe and Latin America, regardless of the color from which it comes.”
Faced with this, the Chilean president has called for learning the lesson of dictatorships: “Persecution and injustice have a reverse side, a stronger response that lasts: neither tyranny nor treason will be able to oppose but not prevail, because for freedom , as Miguel Hernández wrote, we bleed, we fight, we survive”, he indicated.
Lastly, Boric has defended a government model based on constant dialogue with the people to foster empathy among fellow citizens. “Those of us who are in politics have a mandate: to owe ourselves to the people of which we are a part. We do not speak for them, we speak with them, we speak for them. We are not interpreters of a mystical will,” he declared.
“Something as simple as affection, looking into each other’s eyes and loving each other a little more. Talking about that joint Humanity. The lesson of human fraternity that becomes gigantic in the face of the suffering of the neglected,” he added.
