First modification:
Both leaders visited the Museum of Memory. Boric and Scholz agreed to create a remembrance center in the old Colonia Dignidad, a site founded by a Nazi soldier where human rights violations were recorded. At a press conference, the German chancellor highlighted his country’s support for Ukraine and the importance of seeing the effects of the conflict at a global level, not just at a European level.
Olaf Scholz arrived in Chile this Sunday as part of his tour of Latin America. In Santiago, the capital, he was received by the head of state of the South American nation, Gabriel Boric.
The agenda began with a visit to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, a space dedicated to remembering the dead and disappeared during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Both leaders held a meeting later at the Palacio de La Moneda, the seat of the Executive, where they also offered a press conference. In the meeting with the media, the Chilean head of state highlighted the significant German investment in the country.
“According to the Central Bank, just to give an example, the current amount of German investment exceeds one billion dollars. And we have tremendous potential to keep growing, creating value chains” and “transferring technology,” Boric said.
For his part, the German chancellor expressed his interest in deepening relations with Chile while he was pleased that Boric accepted his invitation to join the “Climate Club”, an initiative that tries to work on climate neutrality.
In this sense, he highlighted that, given the importance of renewable energies and hydrogen as fuels of the future, Chile has excellent conditions to produce hydrogen in an environmentally friendly manner.
Colonia Dignidad: a debt that is trying to be left behind
Another of the topics discussed at the conference was the creation of a memorial site in the old Colonia Dignidad. A site created by Nazi non-commissioned officer Paul Schaefer where, among other things, torture was carried out during the Pinochet era.
“We know that this is a sensitive issue, it is not easy to find a solution. That is why, with all due caution, we want to offer our support and do what we can do”, emphasized Olaf Scholz.
For his part, the Chilean president was grateful and in favor of supporting “the will of the Government of Germany to contribute to the search for the truth and make the former Colonia Dignidad a space of memory.” “It is the role of the Chilean State to continue fighting tirelessly for all the truth and all justice,” he pointed out.
“The history of Colonia Dignidad is terrible, heartbreaking,” said the head of La Moneda at another time (…) And it is also terrible, and it is worth remembering, the support it had from a political sector Chilean government, some of which are still under public scrutiny.
At the site, now renamed “Villa Baviera”, the Nazi military subjected more than 300 people to forced labor, sexual abuse or mental manipulation, among other practices. There he was also tortured and assassinated opponents of the dictatorial regime by the National Intelligence Directorate, Augusto Pinochet’s secret police.
The settlement was founded in 1961 and closed 30 years later after the return of democracy. Victims and human rights organizations have accused both Germany and Chile of not pursuing the crimes committed there with sufficient determination.
Ukraine, among the questions of the press
“There is no country that supports Ukraine more than Germany,” said the Bavarian head of government in the middle of the exchange with the press. When asked if Berlin would send warplanes if the conflict escalates, the chancellor stressed that, together with the president of the United States, they excluded “certain aspects at the beginning of the war, because this would have led to a greater escalation.”
Scholz also stressed that he refuses to “send troops to Ukraine.” He also pointed out that the conflict could not be “a competition over who sends more aid.” In summary, he mentioned that “support has been provided financially, humanitarianly and also with the shipment of arms.”
Olaf Scholz stressed that he will try to avoid, with all his efforts, “a war between Russia and the NATO nations”, something that they have so far “achieved”. The foreign minister also warned that the war in Ukraine “is not merely a European matter, but a challenge of an international order.”
The next stop on the German chancellor’s tour will be Brazil. There he will be received by President Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva.
with EFE
