2023-07-05 23:42:43
SANTIAGO (AP) — Italian President Sergio Mattarella, visiting Chile, said Wednesday that both Europe and Latin America should reject any kind of denialism because it is a breeding ground for authoritarian nostalgia.
The president, who is carrying out an official visit to South America that will also take him to Paraguay, highlighted the opportunity he has to be in Chile just two months following the 50th anniversary of the military coup of September 1973. He recalled the role his country played in the time, provided refuge to hundreds of Chileans who took refuge in the Italian embassy in the Chilean capital.
During the talk “Latin America and Europe: two continents united by peace, democracy, development”, he recognized the work of Chile following its return to democracy, in 1990, with what he called the “truth operation” on places of illegal detention and torture.
“The value of the memory and history of a country – of any country – is a fundamental element of its identity,” he said.
The Italian president -a figure in Italy different from the head of the government, which is held by the prime minister- added that, as in Europe, in Latin America any type of denialism must be rejected, since it is “a breeding ground towards authoritarian nostalgias”.
Latin America had many dictatorships from the mid-20th century to the 1990s, including Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Panama, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, and Ecuador.
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