Chilean President Gabriel Boric in his speech to the United Nations Assembly in New York. MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ (EFE)
Chilean President Gabriel Boric denounced the sanctions unilaterally imposed by the United States against Venezuela and Cuba this Wednesday. The left-wing president used the podium at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York to demand that Washington lift economic sanctions against the Maduro regime and remove Cuba from the list of countries that support terrorism. “Not only is it wrong, it also hurts us,” said Boric, who, as usual, sharply criticized the “dictatorial regime” of Ortega and Murillo in Nicaragua.
The Trump era meant a tightening of the screws by Washington’s sanctions against Havana, accompanied by a major offensive against foreign investment on the island. In addition, it was added to the list of countries supporting terrorism – which it shares only with Syria, North Korea and Iran – thereby reversing the progress made in the thaw initiated by the Barack Obama administration. When Joe Biden assumed the presidency, the White House made it clear that a change in strategy was not among the Democratic president’s “top priorities.” In the almost two years he has been in government, he has shown that this is the case.
“We call on the United States to follow the line that Barack Obama’s administration took when it deposed them.” [al régimen castrista] from this infamous list and that causes so much damage. Not to the government, to the Cuban people,” said the Chilean president, whose original political alliance is the Grand Front and the Communist Party.
Boric has once again launched his attacks against the regime of Daniel Ortega, with whom he was recently involved in a public dispute. The Nicaraguan criticized the uniformed Chilean police, claiming they were trained for “mass murder.” President Boric criticized the “dictator” Ortega and the Foreign Ministry sent a letter of protest to Managua. This afternoon in New York, the President condemned the persecution suffered by anyone who thinks differently than the dictatorial regime of Ortega and Murillo, but pointed out that any solution to the problems requires multilateral dialogue.
“That’s why we have to say clearly: If sanctions are imposed unilaterally, they do not contribute to the solution. In our view, today’s sanctions against Venezuela do not contribute to improving the living conditions of the Venezuelan people. “We are convinced that in order to ensure free elections with guarantees for all sectors, it is also imperative that the United States lift its current sanctions against Venezuela,” Boric said.
Chavismo blames US international sanctions for the deep economic crisis that the country has been experiencing for seven years. “If they want free elections, we want elections without sanctions,” warned Nicolás Maduro, who has regained strength in recent months internal authority and diplomatic jurisdiction.
The lessons of the 1973 coup
President Gabriel Boric began his speech by commemorating the 50th anniversary of the coup against the socialist government of Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. The president highlighted the existing evidence that then-President Nixon’s White House “from the very beginning Conspiracy “conducted to further the failure of the Chilean government.” Among the lessons learned from the tragedy, the president said, the most important was that the problems of democracy must always be solved with more democracy and that a coup “never “It is inevitable that democracy always offers alternatives”. Also that human rights “have no political color and must be promoted and defended at all times and everywhere.”
Although the speech emphasized what unites the ruling party and the opposition, Boric mentioned that it is urgent to defend the progress and rights of minorities, “and also those who are not a minority but a majority, such as “Women, whose progress and rights are threatened by sectarianism and fanaticism of various kinds.” This Wednesday, the Constitutional Council, responsible for drawing up a proposal to replace the Magna Carta, with the voices of the extreme right and tradition, adopted certain norms approved, which can create room for obstruction of the current abortion law for three reasons.
Boric, perhaps the Latin American progressive leader who most strongly condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, met in person for the first time this Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “We are convinced that the invading government cannot be held responsible for a conflict of this nature or held accountable in the same way as the invaded people and that peace therefore depends on ensuring respect for the territorial integrity of nations,” assured the Chilean President in his speech after the bilateral meeting with his counterpart.
The Chilean President, traveling accompanied by Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren; Health Minister Ximena Aguilera; Environment Minister Maisa Rojas and Science Minister Aisén Etcheverry also attended private forums on sustainable economics and climate change and met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte.