“Nicaragua Grieves Us as Chile Grieved You in the Past”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric took advantage of his appearance before the Organization of American States to evoke the memory of former Chilean President Salvador Allende (1908-1973) and appeal for “respect for human rights” in Nicaragua.

“We must raise our voices when we see them violated. We haven’t come to preach, but the universal value of human rights isn’t negotiable. (…) Nicaragua grieves us as in the past Chile grieved you,” Boric declared during a session of the OAS Permanent Council, based in Washington D.C.

Boric’s speech, his first at the OAS, came after this institution unveiled a plaque honoring Allende at the main entrance of its headquarters when Fifty years have passed since the coup d’état led by Augusto Pinochet in Chile, which would give rise to a military dictatorship that would last until 1990.

“Democracy, always; and human rights, always. Thus, the day will be closer when, as former President Allende said, the great avenues where free men and women pass through will be opened to build a better society,” Boric recalled to continue pointing to the Government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua.

“What’s happening in Nicaragua violates us”

Human rights, according to Boric, must be defended “regardless of the political slant” of the Government that attacks them and said he is willing to “collaborate” to safeguard democracy in the Central American country.

“What is happening in Nicaragua violates us and that is why we denounce it. Governments pass but the dignity of the people must be maintained (…) We want to collaborate so that we all have the same standard with what is happening,” he added.

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Daniel Ortega announced Nicaragua’s withdrawal from the OAS in 2021, alleging “impositions” by the organization, which had condemned human rights violations there. The departure will take effect next November.

Luis Almagro:  The Chilean people’s struggle is still “present”

For his part, the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, preferred not to directly mention the Sandinista government of Ortega, but affirmed that the “struggle of the Chilean people” until liberating themselves in 1990 from the military dictatorship of Pinochet is still “present” in places of Latin America where “freedoms and political rights are violated.”

This week Boric also traveled to New York to participate in the 78th United Nations General Assembly, where he also gave a speech in favor of democracy and against the 1973 coup d’état.

There he held bilateral meetings with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky; his counterpart in Peru, Dina Boluarte; and with the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.

Before leaving the United States, Boric will attend this Saturday a tribute to Orlando Letelier, former Minister with the Allende government who was assassinated in the US capital on September 21, 1976.

This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times