This Monday, Boric led the act for democracy at the La Moneda Palace on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the breakdown of the institutional order that gave way to 17 years of one of the bloodiest dictatorships on the continent.
In his speech, the president thanked the international solidarity with Chileans since the first days of the coup against the Popular Unity government of President Salvador Allende.
Countries from all over the globe received our compatriots who lost everything overnight, said Boric, who mentioned the arrival of Chileans to Sydney, Paris, Moscow, Havana, Mexico, among many other places.
Human rights groups and the presidents of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, participated in the ceremony; from Colombia, Gustavo Petro; from Bolivia, Luis Arce; and from Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou.
Also attending were the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, and the President of the Federal Council of Germany, Peter Tschentscher; as well as several former leaders from Chile and other countries.
Boric deeply valued the presidents and personalities who, together with Chile, signed the manifesto for democracy, which proposes respecting the Constitution, the laws and the rule of law, condemning violence and promoting dialogue and the peaceful resolution of differences.
“The threats to democracy are not limited to national borders,” warned the Chilean dignitary.
Boric highlighted that 50 years after the coup d’état, led by Augusto Pinochet, the world continues to pay tribute to President Salvador Allende, a man with an impeccable democratic career who, he said, pledged his word to respect the Constitution and the laws and did so.
He recalled that when he goes anywhere in the world, to any town in Chile, no matter how remote it may be, he encounters the name Allende.
In his speech, he referred to the recently launched plan for the search for missing detainees, pointing out that the whereabouts of 1,162 compatriots are still unknown today, including men, women, children and adolescents.
That responsibility should have been assumed by the State and that is why we have made the decision to take a new step forward, he stated.
Regarding the criticism from some sectors of the right for participating yesterday in the march to the General Cemetery in tribute to the victims of the dictatorship, Boric said he does not regret being with the government on the side of those who suffered.
We will continue to insist that the problems of democracy can always be resolved with more democracy and that a coup d’état is never justifiable, the president stated.
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