The president of Chile, José Antonio Kast, has urged citizens this Friday to "look to the future" on the 53rd anniversary of the coup d'état that overthrew the government of Salvador Allende and opened the way to 17 years of military dictatorship, on a date marked because, for the first time since the return to democracy, the Executive does not organize any official tribute.
From the town of Corral, in the Los Ríos region, Kast has explained to the media that the absence of ceremonies responds to his responsibility to "watch over and care for those public policies that improve the quality of life for all Chileans" and "to be with (his) compatriots." "What better than on a day that marked the history of Chile, to meet," he stated.
The head of state, who assumed the presidency last March, which meant the return of the Pinochetist far-right to La Moneda, has emphasized that the past cannot be erased. "We cannot erase history, it generates pain, convictions. It is very likely that right here in Corral there are very different sensitivities about what happened 53 years ago. And just as I cannot erase history, I cannot ask our compatriots that we are condemned by our history to not be able to look to the future of our nation," he has expressed.
These statements come on an unprecedented day since 1990, the year of the recovery of democracy, as the Government's agenda does not include acts of remembrance for the victims or institutional messages, breaking with the pattern followed by previous democratic administrations.
In parallel, former president Gabriel Boric has traveled to the General Cemetery of Santiago, where the remains of Allende and other relevant figures of the political, cultural, and historical life of the country rest.
There, Boric has coincided with Kast in stating that "history cannot be erased," although he has emphasized the need to transmit it to the younger generations: "It is important to never forget," he has pointed out.
The former president, who has avoided "entering into controversy" over the current president's decision, has remarked that the tribute is directed to "a president who sacrificed his life defending democracy, the institutions, the people of Chile so that no more blood would be shed," as well as to the victims of 17 years of "darkness" and "those who fought, raised joy in the midst of pain and despair."