September, the month of the homeland, of kites, of fondas, empanadas, and red wine… But it is also the month of the coup d’état, the bombing of La Moneda, the death of President Salvador Allende, and the beginning of a civic-military dictatorship that persecuted, tortured, murdered, and exiled thousands of compatriots.
Read more Sheinbaum’s approval remains at 69% on the way to her second year in office
After 53 years, September continues to have a deep historical, political, and emotional significance for the Chilean left, for those who adhered to the Popular Unity, and for all people who understand that democracy and human rights must be defended unconditionally.
That is why it is offensive that the new right seeks to establish its own commemorative event, trying to transform September 4, 2022, into a foundational date and use that plebiscite to build a political narrative that goes far beyond the rejection of a specific constitutional proposal.
That plebiscite is part of our democratic history, but one thing is to respect the citizens’ decision and quite another to use it to present that victory of an electoral option as legitimizing the far-right project.
Those who talk about waging a cultural battle know that controlling the present requires reinterpreting the past, and that is why they relativize the causes and consequences of the coup, justify the democratic rupture, and try to separate the dictatorship from the profound economic transformations it imposed through violence and political persecution.
Today, the far right wants to replace the memory of the democratic break with the celebration of an electoral victory, substitute the image of Allende with that of the new leaders of the radical right. Displace the debate on human rights through discourses of order and security.
This formula is part of an international offensive where their ideas, slogans, and strategies are imported and replicated from one country to another. They respond to a current in which Spain’s Vox, American Trumpism, and various expressions of the Latin American radical right converge.
They call themselves patriots, but their economic project weakens the sovereign capacity of the State and favors the interests of large economic groups and transnational capital.
They call themselves libertarians, but their concept of freedom is often reduced to market freedom, while they seek to restrict social, cultural, sexual, and reproductive rights.
Read more The Shield of the Americas, a great opportunity if built well
They present themselves as republicans, but they relativize the dictatorship and erode the democratic consensuses built after 1990.
This far right is not a simple repetition of the past; it no longer requires tanks in front of La Moneda to push forward the core of the political and economic project driven by the dictatorship.
Their goal is to advance through institutional means, taking advantage of circumstantial electoral and parliamentary majorities to reduce the State, weaken social rights, and turn into merchandise what should be a right. To seek to subvert the Republic and institutional mechanisms on the path to authoritarianism.
Democracy is not only about winning elections; it also means respecting fundamental rights, protecting minorities, recognizing the plurality of society, and accepting that no majority can place itself above human dignity.
In the face of this offensive, recovering memory does not mean being trapped in the past; it means defending what has been achieved since the return to democracy: public freedoms, civil and social rights, the recovery of politics, and the fundamental principle that differences must be resolved without violence. This does not imply idealizing it but committing to deepen it. Memory loses its meaning if it does not seek a fairer, more equal, and truly sovereign country.
From this perspective, the Madrid Forum can meet in Santiago and celebrate the anniversary of the plebiscite, but on the left, we also have the right and duty to warn about the harmful political project that this new right represents.
September does not belong to those who seek to rewrite it with false communicational milestones. This month belongs to a people who celebrate traditions but also remember their wounds and commemorate those who fought for social justice, democracy, and dignity.
Read more PcComponentes discounts monitors, laptops, and accessories for your home office