Chile and Germany want to commemorate the victims of the German sect settlement Colonia Dignidad ("Colony of Dignity") with a memorial site.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out in favor of this on Sunday evening in Santiago de Chile.

"The history of Colonia Dignidad is terrible," said Boric.

The Chilean state fights “tirelessly for all truth and justice”.

Regarding the idea of ​​erecting a memorial on the sect's premises, Scholz said that the Chilean government would be "very supportive" as the federal government, "and we will participate accordingly".

He emphasized that they wanted to make a contribution "as a partner".

"We know how sensitive the whole issue is, there are different groups of victims," ​​he added.

Matthias Wysuwa

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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The settlement was founded in 1961 by the German Paul Schäfer.

Sexual abuse, forced labor and exploitation shaped everyday life there.

During the years of the Pinochet dictatorship from 1973 to 1990, opponents of the regime were also kidnapped and tortured in the settlement about 400 kilometers south of the capital.

Schäfer fled to Argentina in 1997, was arrested in 2005 and extradited to Chile, where he was imprisoned until his death.

Scholz: There is no dictatorship that has no victims

In 2016, the then Foreign Minister and current Federal President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was critical of the role played by German diplomats in Chile: From the 1960s to the 1980s, they "at best looked the other way" and in any case did too little "to protect their compatriots". in the colony.

The Federal Foreign Office and the embassy had "lost their bearings" when balancing good relations with the host country Chile and the protection of human rights.

In 2017, the Bundestag then decided without a dissenting vote that the crimes had to be dealt with.

In 2021, experts from a bilateral commission then presented a concept for a memorial at the site of the former colony, which has been called Villa Bavaria since 1988.

After Argentina, Chile is the second stop on Scholz's first trip to Latin America as Chancellor.

Immediately after landing in Santiago de Chile, he visited the Museum of Remembrance and Human Rights with President Boric.

It commemorates the victims of the Pinochet dictatorship.

The visit impressed him very much, said Scholz afterwards.

"He reminded me of the times that I was able to follow as a young man in Germany, and of the oppression that the dictatorship left behind for me and many others in our country." That's why it is so important "that once we have regained freedom, we defend it, knowing that it cannot be taken for granted but requires our daily commitment so that we can live safely".

He added:

"There is no dictatorship that has no victims, there are only dictatorships with many victims." For the world to be a peaceful place, it must also be a free place, "and that's why we are so closely connected as democracies".

Scholz managed to visit Chile himself as a young socialist in the 1980s.

Boric has been in office since 2022, at the age of 36 he was the youngest president in the country, which has seen major social protests since 2019, fueled by major inequalities in the country.

The political situation remains fragile and poverty is a major problem.

However, the country is rich in coveted raw materials such as copper and lithium.

Memoranda of Understanding have now been signed to deepen collaboration in the areas of research, innovation and mining.

On Monday afternoon, Scholz flew on to the last stop on the journey: Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.