Chile president defends democracy 50 years after coup ushers in military dictatorship

SANTIAGO (AP):

The president of Chile issued a fervent defense of democracy on Monday, the 50th anniversary of the coup led by General Augusto Pinochet that ushered in a brutal military dictatorship for almost two decades.

The anniversary of the US-backed coup was a vivid reminder of the continuing divisions over the legacy of Pinochet, who died without ever being convicted for the crimes against humanity committed during his 17-year reign.

The problems of democracy must be addressed through more democracy, President Gabriel Boric said at the La Moneda presidential palace, which was bombed by warplanes at the start of the coup half a century ago.

“A coup d’état or the violation of the human rights of those who think differently is never justifiable,” Boric said in his address to a nation where a significant number of people, according to numerous polls, believe the 1973 coup was justified, and that Pinochet, who died in 2006, was a good leader who helped to modernise the country.

A half-century after Pinochet’s coup, some in Chile remember the dictatorship fondly.

The military regime led by Pinochet violated human rights and brutally persecuted opponents, imprisoning and torturing thousands who were opposed to the regime. It Ieft a toll of 3,200 killed, including 1,469 disappeared. A half-century later, 297 have been convicted of crimes against humanity and 1,300 cases are ongoing.

Special Presidential Advisor for the Americas Christopher J. Dodd was leading the US government delegation to Chile, according to the State Department. The US government backed the 1973 coup and the Chilean government is pushing Washington to declassify documents that could shed light on the era.

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said that “the Biden administration has sought to be transparent about the US role in this chapter of Chilean history,” noting that it has recently declassified documents from 1973.

“We pay our deepest respects to the victims of the repression that followed,” Miller said.

The date in Chile is marked by political polarisation between the ruling party and the right-wing opposition, due to their disagreements about the roles they played in the coup. Boric described the atmosphere as “charged”, and former President Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010 and 2014-2018) called it “toxic”. In Congress, lawmakers shouted at each other over the issue.

Those divisions spilled into the streets over the weekend, when a peaceful protest by thousands of Chileans to remember those disappeared and killed by the dictatorship was marred by violence. A small group of masked individuals threw rocks at windows.

In his speech Monday, Boric emphasised the need to stand up with the victims of the dictatorship and not seek a false equivalence in order to appease those who defend Pinochet’s government.

“Reconciliation is not achieved through neutrality or distance but by unequivocally standing with those who were victims of the horror,” Boric said.