The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved the withdrawal of the Grand Cross of Military Merit to Chilean ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, awarded in 1975.
“With this withdrawal of the Grand Cross of Military Merit, which was granted in its day by the Franco regime, our country advances in that coherence with democratic commitments, with rights and liberties”, declared the spokesperson of the Government in functions, Isabel Rodriguez, during the press conference after the Council of Ministers.
The decision coincides, precisely, with the fiftieth anniversary of the military coup d’état of September 11, 1973 against the socialist president of Chile, Salvador Allende, which gave rise to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in a country that had been characterized by having one of the most stable democracies in Latin America.
Precisely, the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this past Monday the intention of the Council of Ministers to withdraw the decoration. “Fifty years ago, Chilean democracy was the victim of a brutal attack that shook the world. Today, September 11, it is time to repair a historic injustice. The Council of Ministers will withdraw tomorrow the Grand Cross of Military Merit awarded to the dictator Pinochet in 1975,” he declared through the social network X, formerly Twitter.
