“A new generation cannot pass without us knowing what happened to the disappeared”

2023-08-11 20:15:25

One month to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état of 1973, dna citizen spoke with the Human Rights lawyer and representative of the family of Víctor Jara, Nelson Caucoto.

“They have been 50 very long years, with a lot of pain accumulated in the families of the victims. There are more than a thousand Chileans who never returned homewho were uprooted from their homes, from their jobs and never returned. It is an open wound that cannot be forgotten”said the lawyer.

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Along these lines, Nelson Caucoto stressed the importance of memory, indicating that this is not only an act of remembering, but also an ethical pillar that guides society towards a more promising future.

“Memory is, perhaps, the ethical moral substratum of a society that allows it to project itself into the future in better conditions tomorrow. A new generation cannot pass without us knowing what happened to these compatriots who never returned,” the lawyer said.

denialism and relativism

Caucoto also warned about the threats of denialism and relativism, positions that seek to distort or even erase historical facts. In this context, he criticized the responsibility of some media outlets that, in the past, promoted misleading narratives or simply omitted crucial facts.

“The great danger today is relativism and in the face of that, I am interested in highlighting the role of the media (…) an issue that feeds denialism is not knowing what happened in this country, continuing to live undaunted as if nothing would have happened,” he said.

Beyond ideologies, Caucoto emphasized that human rights are a matter of universal justice. “Human rights are capable of sheltering everyone, those on the left, those on the right, agnostics, believers, pagans. I have always understood that the discipline of human rights is perhaps the lifeline of the community as a whole”, said.

Looking at the constitutional process

Regarding the current constitutional process in Chile, Nelson Caucoto referred to the amendments of the Republican Party that would allow detainees in Punta Peuco to be released from prison for being over 75 years of age.

“It is contrary to international law (…) They are people who never had the capacity to denounce themselves, to repent, to confess their crimes on time. Justice in Chile began to operate from the year 2000, before there was no justice,” the lawyer closed.

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