In Chile, September 11 marks Pinochet's military coup in 1973
The names of the victims of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship displayed on a wall in Santiago (illustrative image).
MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
It is another September 11 that we commemorate this Saturday in the country: the military coup of 1973 against the socialist president Salvador Allende.
With a particular context this year since the Chileans elected in May a constituent assembly to replace the Constitution inherited from the Pinochet dictatorship. +
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With our correspondent in Santiago
,
Justine Fontaine
The newly elected officials, many from social movements, are in the process of completing the drafting of the regulations, which are due to be voted on this month.
But already many proposals concern human rights and the memory of
the dictatorship
.
Entrust the former torture centers to associations of victims, name Pinochet "
dictator
" in official documents, or even prohibit the naming of streets after the criminals of the dictatorship ... Here are some of the proposals put forward by the very
young
Chilean
Constituent Assembly
.
Lawyer Roberto Celedón, former political prisoner and member of this assembly, is grateful to the Chileans who mobilized at the end of 2019 against social inequalities and against the Constitution inherited from Pinochet: “
Thanks to the social revolt, the Chilean people have recovered the right to choose one's own Constitution.
And we hope to build new democratic institutions that are based on human rights.
"
A future Constitution that gives hope
More than thirty years after the end of the dictatorship, Alicia Lira, president of the association of the families of political executions, places a lot of hope in this
future Constitution
: "
This will not necessarily lead to exactly what we would like , but it will in any case be much more democratic, much more participatory and representative than what we have ever had before.
"
These proposals have yet to be debated and voted on in plenary session.
Then the Chileans will be called upon to say yes or no to their new Constitution in a referendum at the end of next year.
On Friday, September 10, around twenty elected officials brought photos of the deceased from the dictatorship into the hemicycle, to pay tribute to them and support the families who continue to demand justice for their loved ones.
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To listen: Constituent Assembly in Chile: "This process marks the beginning of the end of the Pinochet era"
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