Red is in Chile for the biggest left party in the Americas

At the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, in the central region of Santiago, capital of Chile, a large permanent exhibition is set up in a modern and imposing building, so that it never forgets and never happens again. There are photographs, objects, moving images, documents and posters that seek to portray dramatic moments of the coup d’état that assassinated President Salvador Allende and imposed on Chileans the period of terror of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship for almost 30 years. One of the most violent fractures of democracy in South America. After decades of thousands of cases of torture, murders and disappearances, the Chilean dictatorship began to collapse at the same time that the country’s Communist Party organized its first major meeting since the coup.

In 1988, the Fiesta de Los Abrazos appeared, which has its 35th edition in 2024 held in Santiago, on the 13th and 14th of January (Saturday and Sunday), with the participation of Red Portal. The name of the event came from the collective desire of people and activists to embrace each other after the heavy years of Pinochet. Since then, in addition to hugs, the party has included cultural activities, artistic activities, a book fair, crafts, gastronomy, as well as many debates, lectures, exchanges of opinions on the main issues facing Chile, Latin America and the world as a whole. all.

Read too: Chilean museum is a reference in memory and Human Rights

The entire program takes place in Parque Bernardo O’Higgins, a large green area in the center-south zone of the capital, where hundreds of stands from different regions of the country are set up and where panels and conversation circles take place in tents pleasantly set up under the shade of the trees. treetops, but also under the strong Chilean summer sun. During the day, the Festival is marked by the meeting of Chilean families, with activities for audiences of all ages. One of its mottos is to be the “first festival of the year in the country”, always taking place in January. Among the musical attractions that close the program this year are local artists Javiera Parra, La Sonora de Tommy Rey, Inti-Illamini, Los Cadillas Piratas and the musical “Victor sin Victor Jara”, in honor of the iconic artist of popular resistance Chilean military coup.

For Brazilian communists, the party is an important lesson during the construction of the second Red Festival, which will take place on the 22nd and 23rd of March in the city of Salvador. Inspired by other cultural events on the global left, the Brazilian festival reaches its second edition seeking to strengthen itself as a meeting point and exchange of ideas for the progressive field in the country. The experiences of 35 Chilean Fiestas de Los Abrazos enable a valuable exchange for the meeting that is being formed in Brazil and has everything to also become one of the most important on the continent and the planet.

Read too: 2nd Red Festival will be in Salvador; check the dates

The Communist Party of Brazil-PCdoB sent its representative, the Secretary of International Relations Ana Prestes, who will participate in two specific moments of the Festival, the opening act which will be attended by the President of Chile Gabriel Boric and the panel “The Challenges of Integration of left-wing and progressive governments in Latin America”. Follow coverage via Red Portal.