Santiago, Chile. A few steps from where Salvador Allende died during the coup in La Moneda Palace in 1973, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador condemned: “he does not deserve to be treated like that; “It was a terrible crime (…) the treason of Augusto Pinochet is disgusting, it is a stain that cannot be erased even by all the water of the ocean.”
Accompanied by President Gabriel Boric, his host, and with whom he also had a private meeting within the framework of his official visit to Chile, López Obrador praised here, as he has done many times, the figure said Allende. The bad president – he said – still leads by example. He is the foreign character that “I admire the most, that generates the most feelings in me. A humanist, a good man, a victim of scoundrels.”
In line with the ideological ties that connect them, burdened by a radical right in the process of creating a new Constitution, Boric also turns to historical memory: “imagine September 11, 1973! Slowly -slowly, the militants, workers, people seeking refuge began to arrive at the Mexican embassy, and where a brave ambassador, named Gonzalo (Martínez Corbalá), if I remember correctly, received – in his residence and in the embassy – to hundreds of Chileans.”
In one of the ceremonial rooms of La Moneda Palace, Boric continued to recognize the Potosí diplomat, who with his actions of unconditional support left his name for posterity: “he himself, to take the personal risks, given by the contingency of the moment, went to find Allende’s family. And with a unity that characterizes it throughout history, it gave asylum and affection to the pain of hundreds of Chileans who were deprived of their homeland, their nationality and those who tried to deprive them of their dignity, but failed.
Far from the usual rhetoric of speeches given during official visits, on this occasion words of intimacy and admiration were directed to the figure of Salvador Allende and a legacy that, each in their own way, follows him in complex situations. , in the face of the siege of conservatism. Although at that time there were those who chose armed means to implement their social justice project, Allende chose a peaceful and democratic alternative.
López Obrador recognized the lessons of humanism, dignity and democracy of the former president of Chile. “From him we know (in Mexico) that the best way to achieve a change depends on the effort we make to awaken civic awareness, the change of mentality in our cities , not just a minority.” Of course, he emphasized, this requires courage, conviction and perseverance.
He then assured that from these bases and under the premise of prioritizing the poor, extraordinary goals were achieved in Mexican territory. “It is a source of pride to note that, despite the pandemic and the economic crisis caused by that plague and the war in Ukraine, we have been able to reduce inequality, as has not happened in the decades of our country.”
Chilean President Gabriel Boric welcomed his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at La Moneda Palace, where an official meeting was held and then they gave speeches. Photo Ap.
He ended his speech praising Boric, as the inheritor of the ideals of Bernardo O’Higgins and Allende; It represents the town of two great poets, Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. “We will always respect and admire you,” he assured the young Chilean president.
The words that undoubtedly represent a balm for Boric, who a few hours before saw his participation in the solemn ceremony to remember the plague of the Chilean people 50 years after the coup, because in the emergence of radical groups around La Moneda. .
In front of López Obrador, the president of the South American country spoke of the intense cultural exchange between the two countries, as part of the bonds of solidarity “that cross our histories and become stronger after September 11, 1973.
“So today, on behalf of the State of Chile, I thank you for the unity of your country for all those who are struggling in these difficult moments.”
They are messages with marked historical references because in “this great Latin American homeland, even if we are geographically distant, we have a special closeness, a rich historical past and a challenging that present and future are built with democracy,” emphasized the president of Chile. .
And in the same way, Boric gave himself space to discuss the bilateral future by remembering that next March will mark the 25th anniversary of the Mexico-Chile Trade Agreement, and then the mechanisms of economic collaboration be strengthened.
Witnesses to the talks were members of the small Mexican delegation, composed of the Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval; the Secretary of the Navy, Rafael Ojeda, and the Chancellor, Alicia Bárcena, as well as the wife of President López Obrador, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, who tirelessly recorded the president’s message on her phone.
In the morning, and before going to La Moneda, in his first official activity in Chile, López Obrador met privately with the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Luis Santos da Silva.
