Chileans and Cubans recall President Allende’s legacy

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 11 (ACN) President Salvador Allende, victim of a coup staged on September 11, 1973, was remembered in this city by Chileans and Cubans who demanded that the reactionary forces in the region be prevented from their purpose of erasing history.

At the foot of the monument in Havana to the man who set an example of courage and dedication, the attendees listened to the recording of his last messages to the people, which became part of Latin American history, when he said, “(…) Much sooner than later, the great avenues will open again for free men to walk and build a better society”.

Attended by representatives of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and its president Fernando Gonzalez Llort, Chilean residents and diplomats, the moving ceremony in remembrance of the great friend of Cuba and Fidel included the laying of a wreath in his memory.

A talk held earlier at ICAP headquarters highlighted Allende’s bravery, dignity and sacrifice and the brutality of the coup plotters who bombed the seat of government and established a 17-year-long bloody military dictatorship marked by persecutions, torture, murders and disappearances.

“This heartbreaking truth must be made known to the new generations as the enemies of the peoples try to hide it, and we are duty-bound to see to it that this history does not die,” said ICAP first vice-president Noemi Rabaza Fernandez.