Chile: Social movements refuse to erect a statue in honor of Piñera

Published at: 11/02/2025 10:39 AM

Nearly 150 social movements and senators in Chile rejected initiatives to erect a statue and rename a railway bridge in honor of the late former far-right president, Sebastián Piñera.

Through a public letter, they recall Piñera's action during the outbreak of 2019, when he ordered military repression against the demonstrators, leaving 30 dead and thousands injured, of whom at least 400 suffered permanent damage to their eyes, as a result of shots and tear gas bombs.

“The deaths caused, the mutilation and torture that many young people suffered and the physical and psychological damage (seven of them took their lives) left their families in pain in the face of impunity,” details the statement quoted by the press.

Likewise, the signatories assert that a law to build a statue of Piñera near the Palacio de La Moneda and give his name to the industrial bridge in Concepción is an attempt to “whitewash” the image of the former far-right president, who died last year in a plane crash.

The rubrics are headed by groups of relatives of disappeared and executed political detainees, places of memory, public employees, copper workers, the Víctor Jara Foundation, women's groups and the Initiative for the Freedom of Prisoners of the Revolt.

Mazo News Team