The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, criticized the governments of the Republic of Cuba and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela during his participation in the 9th Summit of the Americas, held during 6-10 June in Los Angeles, California.
Boric thus distanced himself further from his supposed leftist position with which he identified himself during his electoral campaign and his reputation as a student and youth leader on which most of his political career is based.
The television network Univisión released an interview with Boric, in which he stated that when it comes to Venezuelan migration to Chile, “I believe that no country has the capacity to absorb by itself a migratory flow as large as the one that has been from Venezuela in recent years.”
The Chilean president denied that the Chilean society is based on xenophobia, but he reiterated that Chile is currently unable to assume the recent migratory flow, without the support of other countries in the region. However, he did not mention the real reason of the Venezuelan migration—the total economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed on the country by the US government, which the former President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, had supported and applauded. In addition, Piñera encouraged Venezuelan migration many times, announcing attractive support mechanisms for Venezuelan who would migrate to Chile; however, those were all lies and empty promises.
Anti-Chavista Boric
Boric also distanced himself from Hugo Chávez as the continent’s revolutionary leader, and denied that he might be an example for his administration. “Unfortunately Hugo Chávez is not the path towards which I want us to build Chile,” he said.
The Chilean president also criticized the current Venezuelan administration, asserting that the Maduro government is authoritarian and has concentrated powers, and called the Bolivarian government an incorrect political system.
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He criticized Cuba as well, stating that it is unacceptable that “they hold people prisoners for thinking differently.”
As for the Summit of the Americas, he said that he had initially thought of not attending the forum. However, he later changed his opinion. “By isolating countries that have authoritarian tendencies, all we are doing is reaffirming their positions,” he commented.
This is not the first time that Boric has criticized Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua for alleged authoritarianism and violation of human rights by the governments of these countries. However, while the Chilean president lectures others on human rights violation, his own government violates the rights of the Mapuche indigenous people of Chile. He has been called out for this hypocritical position by sectors of the Chilean left as well as by progressive movements across the continent.
(RedRadioVE) by José Manuel Blanco Díaz, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune