"The people of Chile are protagonists in this process, we would not be here without the mobilizations"

President Boric’s first speech: “The people of Chile are protagonists in this process, we would not be here without the mobilizations”

FOLLOWING

The president of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, offered his first public speech to the public after taking office this Friday morning. From the Palacio de La Moneda, the President addressed those present and the entire country.

“Chilean men and women, inhabitants of our country, people of Chile. This afternoon, for the first time, I speak to you as President of the Republic. President of all of us who live in this country that we love so much and how much we love Chile, which has suffered so much and has given us so much joy,” he began by pointing out.

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The first words of the president @gabrielboric: “For the first time I speak to you as President of the Republic”.

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– 24 Hours (@24HorasTVN) March 11, 2022

“Infinite thanks for giving me this honor to you, to those who are seeing us in your homes (…) also to my unconditional family, to our cabinet, to our teams and also, personally, to Irina,” he continued.

“This Chile, made of diverse peoples and nations, installed on a cornice of the continent, between the imposing mountain ranges and its magical ocean, between the desert of life and the Antarctic ice (…) has experienced human rights violations that will never be repeated in our country“, Held.

“The emotion that I have felt today, when crossing the Plaza de la Constitución and entering this Palace of La Moneda, it is deep and I need, existentially, I need to share it with you“.

“The people of Chile are protagonists in this process. We would not be here without the mobilizations“, he added.

???????? #BoricLlegaALaMoneda

President @gabrielboric: “The people of Chile are protagonists in this process, we would not be here without your mobilizations”

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Along these lines, he remarked that “we did not come here to fill positions and entertain each other, to generate unattainable distances. We came to give ourselves body and soul to the commitment to make life better in our country.”

“I have seen their faces touring our country. Of the elderly, whose pension is not enough to live on, because some decided to make a business out of pensions. Those of those who get sick, and their families do not have how to pay for their treatments. Those of the indebted students, those of the peasants without water, due to drought and looting“, he added.

He also stated that he saw the faces of “those of the women who care for their children with ASD, that I find in every place in Chile, their bedridden relatives, their defenseless babies. Those of the families who continue to search for their disappeared detainees , that we will not stop looking for. Of those of dissidence and gender diversities, who have been discriminated against and excluded for so long. Of artists who cannot live from their work, because culture is not sufficiently valued in our country. Of the social leaders who fight for the right to decent housing in the populations of the original peoples, dispossessed of their land but never of their history”

“Of the stifled middle class, of the boys and girls of Sename, never again. The faces of isolated areas, like the Magallanes where I come from. of those who live in forced poverty, with you is our commitment”, he announced.

PRESIDENT BORIC ANNOUNCED THAT HE WILL PROMOTE THE 40 HOURS PER WEEK PROJECT

In his speech, the President also ratified that will promote the project of 40 working hours per week. In addition, he reiterated his intention to redistribute wealth, although he warned that “we are going to live in challenging and complex times,” alluding to the covid-19 pandemic and the global economic recession.

Boric warned that “starting my mandate is becoming part of a story that exceeds us all, but at the same time gives us shape, meaning and direction to our gaze. Thousands of people passed through here who made possible the expansion of public education, the progressive recognition of women’s rights and dissidence in the country and at home. The democratization of the country, the recognition of social rights“.

He then alluded to the fact that “Balmaceda and his Chilean dignity passed through this place, Pedro Aguirre Cerda and his government is to educate -quoting Valentín Letelier-, Frei Montalva and popular promotion, comrade Salvador Allende and the nationalization of copper, Patricio Aylwin and the recovery of democracy, Michelle Bachelet opening unexpected paths with social protection”.

“Here you can hear the echoes of those who have anonymously risen up against oppression, defending human rights, demanding truth, justice, reparation and a guarantee of non-repetition. The feminist clamor and its fight for equality resonates here. And some will remember the 1,800 hours running around the coin for education,” he added.

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President @gabrielboric: “Here resonates the feminist clamor and its fight for equality”.

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However, the president lamented that “these walls have also witnessed the horror of a past of violence and oppression, which we have not forgotten and will not forget. From where we speak today, yesterday rockets entered, and that can never be repeated again“.

He also remarked that “on the difficult path of changes that citizens decided to start in unity, the days when we marched together for a worthy future come to my mind and my heart. Where were we marching compatriots? This government is not going to be the end of that march, we are going to continue walking, and the road is going to be long and difficult“.

“But today the dreams of millions of people are here pushing us, giving us meaning, to bring about the changes that society demands,” he added.

Thus, he asserted that “my dream is that, when we finish our mandateand I speak in the plural -because this is not about me- we can look at our children, our sisters, our parents, our neighbors, our grandparents, and let us feel that there is a country that protects us, welcomes us, cares for us, that guarantees rights and fairly rewards the contribution and sacrifice that each one makes for the development of our society“.

???????? #BoricLlegaALaMoneda | “My dream is that when we finish our mandate, we can look at our children, sisters, parents, neighbors and grandparents, and feel that there is a country that guarantees rights,” he said. @gabrielboric in his first speech as President of Chile. pic.twitter.com/VsW0AOEsqU

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“I would like the people of Puchuncaví and Coronel to look to the future and know that their children are not going to grow up in pollution, something so basic. That the workers of Lota are not going to continue living in poverty,” he added.

“That the communities of artisanal fishermen of the Province of Cardenal Caro will be able to continue developing their traditional activities. That the children of Alto Hospicio know that they will also be able to access decent housing. That the residents of Antofagasta, -Maipú, Hualpén, feel peace of mind when they return to their jobs and have time to live with their families,” he added.

In that line, he announced that “therefore, as we have promised, we will promote the 40 hours“.

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CRISIS

Subsequently, President Boric announced that “achieving our goals will not be easy. That we will face external and internal crises. That we will make mistakes. And that we must correct those mistakes with humility, always listening to those who think differently and relying on the people From Chile”.

He assured that “we are going to live challenging and complex times. The pandemic continues its course with a balance of pain and loss of life that will accompany us for a long time.

In this way, the highest authority in the country asked to think “of those who have left and those who have left us. In the pain that each family has in their privacy, for those who have left and will not return.”

“We have to hug each other as a society, love each other again, smile again. This, beyond speeches and what is written, how different it is when in a town we love each other, let’s not distrust each other, we support each other. We ask our neighbor how he is, we support the worker next door. (…) That is what we have to build compatriots “, he requested.

He also charged that “the economy continues to suffer, and that the country needs to stand up, grow, and fairly distribute the fruits of this growth. Because when there is no distribution of wealth, when wealth is concentrated in a few, peace is very difficult.”

“We need to redistribute the wealth produced by Chilean men and women, who inhabit our country“, he added.

In addition, he stressed that “to all these difficulties is added an international context marked by violence in many parts of the world, and today also by war. And in this I want to be clear, Chile will always promote respect for Human Rights, regardless of the color of the government that violates them“.