Photo: Twitter / @GabrielBoric.
The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, gave a speech in Santiago praising Salvador Allende, the socialist president of Chile who was overthrown in a coup on September 11, 1973. His counterpart Gabriel Boric also said a few words in the same tone of speech.
The Mexican president has always expressed his admiration for Allende and this time, during his official visit to the South American country, was no exception.
At the Palacio de la Moneda, López Obrador expressed his respect for Chilean democracy and endorsed bilateral relations with Boric. He also described Salvador Allende as a role model in politics.
“It had a big impact on me, it shaped me. President Salvador Allende, who with his example is still the foreign leader I admire most, who evokes the most emotions in me,” said the Mexican head of state.
“He was a humanist, a good man, a victim of villains. At that time, it was said about President Allende that it was a contraction to be young and not to be a revolutionary. But being a revolutionary does not necessarily mean taking up arms. “Allende chose a different path, even if many believed that he could only remain in the presidency with weapons,” he reflected as part of the 50 years of the coup in Chile.
A little more than a year after the end of his term as president, López Obrador emphasized that in his administration the motto “the poor first” is already “a political strategy”.
“We are proud that we have managed to reduce poverty despite the pandemic. And something else very important: we have managed to reduce inequality in a way that has not been the case for decades. But beyond the humanism that this policy implies, we must remember that caring for the poorest, the dispossessed and the humiliated also means the certainty of the support of many to change the reality of oppression,” said the President of Mexico.
For his part, Chilean President Gabriel Boric explained that the history of both nations is linked by “great gestures of solidarity”, which is why he considered that the visit of his Mexican counterpart was proof that relations in Latin America are becoming even stronger.
Boric also remembered it Mexico was a country of refuge for thousands of Chileans fleeing the civil-military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
“The Government of Mexico, with a solidarity that has marked it throughout history, has painfully welcomed, granted asylum and affection to hundreds, thousands of Chileans who tried to deprive them of their homeland and their dignity, but they did not. said the Chilean president.
Regarding Pinochet, López Obrador mentioned that “his betrayal was heinous, a stain that cannot be erased despite all the water in the oceans.”
The Mexican president is the first head of state to arrive in Chile to mark the 50th anniversary of the coup in that country. Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle will also be present.