The tribute ended abruptly in the Chamber of Deputies to the late President Salvador Allende, who led the Popular Unity government (1970-1973) that was overthrown on September 11, 1973 by military forces under the command of General Augusto Pinochet.
After 3:00 in the afternoon, at the beginning of the Chamber session, the honoring of the former socialist president began. The ruling parties were the first to intervene and, primarily, promote the progress and achievements of the Popular Unity government.
However, with the intervention of the UDI – the only right-wing party that decided to speak at the commemorative event of Allende – the tensions between the two blocs increased. Deputy Gustavo Benavente is in charge of unveiling the unionism vision of the Popular Unity government.
“At the beginning of his government, the tolerance of UP was noticed regarding the impunity of the actions of armed groups whose actions were encouraged by the government itself, which added more …,” said Congressman Benavente before the president of the corporation , Ricardo Cifuentes (DC), issued a warning for violating the regulations, since the words of the representatives must follow the meaning of the tribute.
The UDI deputy continued his speech, however, the situation has improved, as have the sanctions implemented by the party president. After that, Benavente spoke to the vice presidents of the Chamber, deputies Carmen Hertz (PC) and Daniella Cicardini (PS), in which the rest of the UDI bench participated.
Finally, article 91.5 of the regulations was applied in Benavente, depriving the authorized representative of the right to speak for the duration of the session. As the UDI bench was the last one registered to intervene in the tribute to Allende, the punishment applied to the legislator led to the commemoration of the event that ended and gave way to the discussion of the projects.
At the beginning of the session, the deputies of the RN announced their decision through a letter addressed to the president of the Lower House, Ricardo Cifuentes (DC), in which they expressed their strong disapproval. to identify a political leader “considered responsible. for the institutional collapse of Chile in 1973.
In this way, even if the members of the bank move freely to be in the room, they make the decision not to intervene in it. The same resolution reached the bank of Evópoli, as reported by the leader of the representatives Francisco Undurraga.
“We will not intervene, because we believe that in this case silence helps more than speaking, but we will attend,” said Undurraga.
His coalition partners came to a different definition, because the UDI confirmed that they will participate in the tribute to former President Allende. According to representative Jorge Alessandri, the representatives of his party “not only do not leave the room, but the agreement is that the UDI needs its regular time and speaks.”
“The talks must be respectful, they must be objective and, of course, they must have a political opinion, this is par excellence the politics of the Chamber,” said representative Jorge Alessandri.
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From the party founded by José Antonio Kast, through a public statement, they reported that they will not participate in the honor in honor of the former head of state.
Among their reasons, they emphasized that, in their opinion, the former leader of Popular Unity “led one of the worst governments in the history of Chile.”
“The Caucus of Deputies of the Republican Party, we want to announce that we have made a decision not to participate in the tribute of the Lower House, which was called today, Monday, September 11, in honor of former president Salvador Allende. Gossens. , who – in our opinion – leading one of the worst governments in the history of Chile,” the letter said.
In the document, the parliamentarians also “confirmed” their “commitment to the Chilean people, working tirelessly for a better future, based on justice, social progress, freedom and security for all of us who live in this beautiful country. “
Representing the socialist bank – the party of which Allende is a member -, the representative Daniel Manouchehri, who carried a rose and a photo of the former president in his left pocket, was the first to speak in the honoring framework to the leader of UP..
“Salvador Allende promised in his word that he would respect the Constitution, the laws and the will of the majority that brought him to La Moneda, and so he did. Without backing down, he paid with his life for loyalty of the people. The last act of Allende is compared to the last act of Pinochet, a coward, who died feigning dementia to avoid justice for his crimes and acts of corruption,” said the PS lawmaker.
After Manouchehri, the head of the communist caucus, representative Luis Cuello Peña y Lillo, took the floor and, in the same line as his PS counterpart, highlighted the progress and achievements of the Popular Unity government.
“His words resonate, inspire and inspire strength for the struggles of today and will continue to guide future generations. Allende lives in every city, in the capitals of the world, in every worker who stands up against injustice. “Allende is the homeland, this is the future, this is the people and this is the humanity,” said Cuello.
While representing the PPD, deputy Cristián Tapia recalled the UP initiative to nationalize large-scale copper mining. “Nothing can erase that memory. If it is said that without Allende there would be no Pinochet, please, let us be careful and respect the memory of our President, the memory of many missing prisoners whose families still cannot be found.
After his intervention, it was the turn of the deputy and president of the DC Alberto Undurraga, who assured that the phalanx is a party “with many lights, but with many shadows.” Undurraga recalled that the DC acted as an opponent of the Allende government and said that the leaders were “gambling until the last day for an institutional solution to the political crisis of 1973.”
