September 11 Must Reaffirm Democracy as a Value: Lula de Silva

On Monday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva affirmed that the 50th anniversary of the coup d'état in Chile "is a day to celebrate democracy," pay tribute to the late President Salvador Allende, and repudiate all types of authoritarianism.

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"More than remembering the 50 years of the military coup in Chile and the death of Allende, today is a day in which we reaffirm democracy as an essential value for human beings," he posted regarding Sept. 11.

On this date, South Americans must celebrate democracy and together build a "history of freedom and the fight against hunger and all forms of inequality," he added.

Since the Brazilian progressive leader is in India participating in the G20 summit, he could not attend the events held in Santiago in honor of the victims of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

However, the Brazilian government sent a large representation led by Justice Minister Flavio Dino and Human Rights Minister Silvio Almeida.

"Pinochet's coup plunged the country into a 17-year dictatorship of torture and death, of which Allende was the first victim. His 'crime' was trying to make Chile a more developed and fairer country," Lula emphasized, adding that the South American peoples breathed again when democracy returned to countries suffocated by authoritarianism such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.

"As Allende said at his last speech at the La Moneda Palace, history is ours and it is made by the people," stressed Lula, who cut his teeth in politics through the unions and faced the dictatorship that reigned in Brazil between 1964 and 1985.