The Chilean government prepared a four-point document in commemoration of the 1973 coup and hoped all parties sign it. The Santiago Commitment mentions democracy, human rights, and cooperation. But representatives of right-wing parties refuse to sign.
The Gabriel Boric administration published the Santiago Commitment on Monday. The document should be signed by the leaders of all political parties during a ceremony on Sept. 11 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état.
According to the document, the coup represented a “violent breakdown of democracy in Chile that cost the lives, dignity, and freedom of so many people.”
Signatories are promising to:
- “care for and defend democracy, respect the Constitution, laws and the rule of law. We want to preserve and protect these civilizing principles from authoritarian threats, intolerance and contempt for the opinion of others;
- face the challenges of democracy with more democracy, never with less, condemn violence, and promote dialogue and the peaceful resolution of differences, with the well-being of citizens on the horizon;
- make the defense and promotion of human rights a value shared by our entire political and social community, without placing any ideology before unconditional respect for them;
- strengthen the spaces for cooperation among states through mature multilateralism that respects differences, that establishes and pursues the common objectives necessary for the sustainable development of our societies.”
Refusals
Several leaders of the parties belonging to conservative Chile Vamos coalition won’t sign under any circumstances or demand concessions.
Gloria Hutt, the leader of Evópoli, a party presented as center-right, told broadcaster 24 Horas that “we believe there are things we should add, such as the condemnation of terrorism.”
Javier Macaya, leader of Independent Democratic Union (UDI) was quoted as saying that “we are not willing to participate in milestones that generate more division and that somehow put us at the mercy of facts that do not have a singular view.”
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Editor-In-Chief Boris van der Spek is the founder of Chile Today.