After re-inaugurating Plaza de la Constitución, the President accompanied by his wife, Cecilia Morel, presided over a meaningful ceremony at La Moneda Palace, which was attended by authorities from all branches of government, ministers, undersecretaries, as well as eminent public figures.
On the occasion, he called for a profound reflection on what happened in the country , from its causes, course and lessons for the future saying, "our Government has taken, with commitment and willingness, the flags of national reconciliation , the strengthening of our democracy and the promotion of a culture of human rights," while inviting all Chileans to "recall and commemorate in a peaceful and reflective way this 40th anniversary of the Military Coup of September 11, 1973, with a real sense of unity, nation and future."
He also announced that "as a symbol of this reunion , we have opened wide the doors of this Moneda , the home of all Chileans , so that they can visit it on weekends and feel part of this house to turn it into a permanent symbol of unity among Chileans and of faith in the future."
Read the full transcript of the Head of State's speech as follows:
"Good afternoon.
I just re-inaugurated Plaza de la Constitución, one of the symbols of our Republic, and we are gathered today at La Moneda Palace, the home of all Chileans, to commemorate and recall the painful events that occurred 40 years ago, which still divide a part of our society.
As President of all Chileans, I would like to share some thoughts with my fellow countrymen.
Why is it good to remember?
Because the traumatic moments experienced by countries are like wounds in a human being. It is not good to ignore or cover them, because in that way they never heal. It is not good either to permanently rummage in them, because they may evolve into real gangrene. What we must do is to face, clean and heal them and thus allow them to heal.
Why should we remember?
To re-experience the same divisions, violence and hatred that caused us so much harm in the past? Or, quite the contrary, to light up the paths to the future, learn from past mistakes to avoid repeating them again?
No doubt, this second way is best for the soul of the country, this is what the vast majority of Chileans want, and it is the way with which the Government, which I have the honor to lead, has been , is and will remain committed to.
We know that when thousands of fellow countrymen suffer human rights violations, as the ones that occurred in Chile, there are no solutions that can repair all the pain and damage caused. Unfortunately, we cannot raise the dead or missing to return them to their families. But we can and must alleviate the suffering, moving forward in terms of truth, justice, reparation and reconciliation, as we have done, all together, since the restoration of democracy. And we also must and can respect and care in a better way our democracy, our peaceful co-existence and our rule of law which are, after all, the best antidote to avoid repeating these painful events
On September 11, 1973, a violent coup d'état ended the Popular Unity government, which meant the breakup of democracy and the beginning of 17 long years of military regime.
However, that painful fracture of our democracy was not sudden, untimely or surprising. It was a rather predictable, though not unavoidable, outcome of a long and painful agony of republican values, of a growing deterioration of civic friendship and a serious fragmentation of the rule of law.
Indeed, from the '60s, gradually, and almost imperceptibly, the traditional good sense of the Chilean society began to yield to overflowing pressures, excluding projects and hate speech.
Important left-wing sectors of our country publicly proclaimed their contempt for the existing democracy and argued as legitimate to impose their views and country projects through the use of force and violence, if useful or necessary. The Popular Unity government repeatedly deteriorated legality and the rule of law in force, which was noted and explicitly denounced by the highest institutions of the Republic such as the Supreme Court, the Lower House and the Office of the Comptroller General. This situation, coupled with poor public policy, started to generate a growing political, economic and social chaos, which seriously affected the lives of Chileans and the future of the nation.
The healthy republican dialogue and the search for agreements were replaced by intolerance and violence. For many people, a Chilean who thought differently ceased to be an adversary to convince and became an enemy to destroy.
The political climate became rarefied and our democratic, pluralistic and tolerant democratic society began to be replaced by another marked by deep fractures, hatred and divisions among its own citizens, expressing slogans both applauded and inadvisable. A Senator stated his intention to "deny salt and water" to a government recently elected by a vast majority. A President said that he wouldn't "change a comma of his program not even for a million votes." Another President affirmed that "he was not the President of all Chileans."
All in all, the breakdown of democracy in 1973 marked the failure of a generation that did not want to, did not know how to or could not protect our democracy, our rule of law and our peaceful coexistence. This does not mean that everyone is responsible or that these responsibilities are equivalent, but we can affirm that, despite what some may say, these were shared responsibilities.
The coup d'etat of September 11 and the military government that succeeded it was not a phenomenon exclusive to Chile, but a reality that in the context of the Cold War spread to almost all Latin American countries and brought significant constraints to freedom and painful and unacceptable violations of human rights. There is clear evidence of the significant impact that the two leading world powers at that time had on these events, then confronted by a hard cold war and separated by walls and iron curtains, foreign intervention that we must never allow again.
In terms of responsibilities, these are of a different nature. There are those of a criminal nature, which are individual, and which under the rule of law must be judged and punished by the courts. There are also of a political nature, which can be collective and which are usually evaluated and determined by the citizenship. And of a moral nature, which belong to the realm of the privacy of consciousness.
Some would like to believe that all responsibility lies with those who committed or instructed those human rights violations. This stance is right in terms of criminal responsibility, but it is partial and insufficient with regard to other responsibilities.
In my opinion, those that did not respect the rule of law and promoted intolerance, hatred and violence in our country, which ultimately led to the breakdown of democracy, are also responsible. Subsequently, this responsibility also falls on those who held senior positions in the military government or who due to their rank or influence , knew about these facts and being able to speak out to prevent such abuses they often did not do so, either because they subordinated their principles to their interests or because they succumbed to fear.
It also extends to the Judiciary, which constitutionally and legally mandated was responsible for protecting the rights of people , and who failed to adopt a more determined and effective attitude in the defense of those human rights, accepting the appeals for legal protection and exercising its power over the Military Courts in times of war.
The responsibility also reaches some media, which was often restricted to deliver the government's official version and not always investigated and reported with the objectivity and accuracy required about the serious human rights abuses.
Finally, many of us could have done more in the defense of human rights; we are also partly responsible.
I am certain that if we could go back in history and have a new opportunity to face it, which unfortunately is never possible, the vast majority of key players would behave differently and in a better way, before, during and after September 11, 1973, taking better care of our democracy and better protecting the human right of all.
With regard to the serious and repeated human rights violations that occurred in our country, we must explicitly affirm: none of the facts, causes, mistakes and responsibilities that led to the breakdown of our democracy, justifies the unacceptable abuses against life, integrity and dignity that followed.
For this reason, it is fair and necessary to acknowledge and thank the courageous attitude of so many people and institutions who spoke out and carried out a valuable work in the defense of human rights, such as the churches, families and lawyers of victims, human rights organizations, some judges, journalists and friendly countries who also made a valuable contribution.
But as the institutional breakdown, the weakening of civic friendship and the loss of democracy during the ´70s were a great failure of an entire generation, the exemplary way in which we recovered and consolidated our democracy, peaceful coexistence, and democratic institutions over the last 25 years is a great success of another generation, notwithstanding that some politicians belong to both of them.
In fact, the transitions from a military regime to democracy usually take place amid a political crisis, economic chaos and social violence. The Chilean transition to democracy avoided this problems because, after all, it was the result of broad national agreements with the participation and contribution of almost all sectors of the Chilean society, who were wise enough and had the courage to promote a vision of unity and future, that so much good has done to us and which has allowed us to build a much better Chile than the one of 1973.
Also the Armed Forces and Forces of Order cooperated with this process, and today we have defense and public order institutions under the constitutional framework and the civilian power democratically elected, highly professional, and appreciated and respected by the citizenship.
This glimpse into the past is necessary to build the future. We must ask ourselves what lessons we can gather from the past, to light up the future and avoid repeating the same mistakes or tripping over the same stone. Without a doubt, they are many and varied, but I would like to highlight the ones I consider the most important.
The first one is to admit, without any reservation, which even in extreme situations of institutional breakdown, and even in an internal or external war, there are moral and legal rules that should always be respected by all, combatants and non-combatants, civilians and the military, bosses and subordinates.
Accordingly, phenomena such as torture, terrorism, politically-motivated killings or the enforced disappearance of persons can never be justified without falling into a grave moral void. In other words, the end never justifies the means and there is no state of emergency, or revolution, whatever you orientation or motivation, to justify the degree of violence and human rights violations we experienced in Chile at that time. Human rights of all of us must be respected and defended by all at all times, places and circumstances. And this moral obligation, which involves all citizens, should be honored with even greater zeal and reason by the State and their agents, as representatives and guarantors of the common good.
A second lesson is that democracy, peace and civic friendship are values that are more fragile than we usually think, so we should always care for, protect and strengthen them, not only with our actions but also with our words and attitudes.
A third lesson is that there is a close relationship between political democracy, economic progress and social justice since there is mutual feedback and they reinforce each other , to the point that the weakness of any of them inevitably ends up weakening the others.
A fourth lesson is to understand that truth and justice are necessary for peace and reconciliation. Therefore, we must continue to take steps in the search for greater truth and justice. Those with relevant information have the moral obligation to disclose it. And it is the job of our courts to continue to investigate the truth and deliver justice.
But to heal the wounds of the past and strengthen reconciliation, we also require greatness, generosity and the ability to ask for and grant forgiveness, which undoubtedly corresponds to the most noble and intimate field of people's consciousness.
Our Government has taken with commitment and willingness the flags of national reconciliation, the strengthening of our democracy and the promotion of a Culture of Human Rights to protect the fundamental rights of every person, from conception to natural death.
For that reason, we launched the National Human Rights Institute, which is responsible for acting as an attentive vigilant and defender of the Human Rights of all citizens. So we submitted a bill that establishes the Undersecretariat of Human Rights dependant of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, to act as a coordinator and be responsible for all the Government's efforts and actions in this field. To this end, we reformed the Military Justice so as to delimit its scope to what is strictly their own and exclude, always and under any circumstances, civilians under their jurisdiction.
Hence, we perfected the Anti-Terrorism Law, necessary in a democratic society, improving the classification of offences, strengthening due process and streamlining their punishments.
For that reason, we passed the Anti-Discrimination Law, to effectively combat arbitrary discrimination in our country.
So we have included in our educational system and government agencies a real culture of respect for human rights.
The Government's commitment to strengthen and revitalize our democracy has been expressed in reforms as important as the automatic voter registration and voluntary voting, a system of voluntary primary and bidding elections for the selection of candidates, the direct election of Regional Councilors. And also through plans for a new Political Parties Act and a new electoral system.
I would like to conclude my speech with three brief reflections and an invitation to all Chileans.
Firstly: The past is already written. We can remember, study and discuss it, but we cannot change it. Accordingly, we must not remain as its prisoners or hostages. Because when present gets stuck in the past the future is the one that losses. After all, three out of five Chileans were not yet born in 1973 and more than eight in ten were minors at the time of the coup. We cannot allow the older generations to convey to the younger generations their divisions, hatred and fighting, which caused so much damage, pain and suffering. Today's Chileans must take the brushes, overcome the past and freely draw our paths to a better future.
The second one is that the achievement of peace, civic friendship and reconciliation rather than a goal is a process that requires a continuous effort and a generous and constructive attitude, in which we must all contribute and participate. In this regard, once again, the citizenship seems to have taken previous steps in wisdom and generosity than politicians.
The third one is that over the last 25 years Chile has had to face two transitions: the first one, the oldest, was the transition from a military government to a democratic government. We already had that transition and we did it well. The second one, the new one, is the transition to a developed country, without poverty, with greater justice, with real opportunities for all and with strong moral values. This transition is in full swing and it is the responsibility of our generation, the generation of the Bicentennial, to successfully complete it before the end of this decade.
So let me end these words inviting all my countrymen to recall and commemorate in a peaceful and reflective way this fortieth anniversary of the military coup of September 11, 1973, with a real sense of unity, nation and future. We know that unity is the source of our strength and division is the seed of our weakness. And we also know that, despite our legitimate differences, we all love our Chile and we all want a better future for our children, their children and those to come. Accordingly, we must prioritize what unites us, because it is much stronger than what divides us. Therefore, and as a symbol of this reunion, we have opened wide the doors of this Moneda, the house of all Chileans, so everyone can visit it on weekends and feel part of this house to turn it into a permanent symbol of unity among Chileans and of faith in the future."