Aylwin Tells of New Chile in L.A. Visit
On the first stop of a five-day tour of this country, the president of Chile on Sunday invited immigrants, exiles and expatriates in Los Angeles to return home and see the “new democratic Chile.”
“We must all work together--all parts of society--to move ahead,” said President Patricio Aylwin Azocar, inviting the cheering crowd of 1,500 at the Bonaventure Hotel to witness the “democratizing of (Chile’s) institutions.”
Aylwin’s tour marks the first official state visit by a Chilean president since 1962 when President Jorge Alessandri came to this country to meet with President John F. Kennedy. Aylwin, 73, is scheduled to meet with President Bush at the White House on Wednesday.
Aylwin was elected in 1990, becoming the first freely elected head of state in Chile since a military coup overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973. Sunday’s audience included many people who went into exile after that coup and the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet that followed. The Chilean government estimates that there are 20,000 Chileans in Southern California and several hundred thousand in this country.
Speaking in Spanish, he described new programs designed to attract white-collar expatriates back home. Some of the loudest applause came when he described a program giving compensation, health care and in some cases scholarships to victims of state persecution under Pinochet.
“It’s part of the healing process--the coming together of Chileans,” Aylwin said.
In an overview of changes since he was elected, Aylwin said new programs have begun to provide free school lunches, scholarships for needy students, better health care, low-income housing and women’s rights.
Aylwin also vowed to seek a free-trade agreement with the United States as part of a long-term strategy to develop a trading bloc in the Western Hemisphere.
While things have improved in Chile, Aylwin said, the road ahead will be very difficult because the country cannot count on outside help.
“There are no gifts,” he said. “We only have ourselves and our strength.”
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