A remarkable country
Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Madam President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
It is my great pleasure today to talk about the remarkable country and an even more remarkable President. Chile was very close to the Dutch for many years. For me personally this started in 1973. I was only twelve, but the first political memory I had was of the tragedy that befell on the people of Chile.
Gelegenheid: Toespraak bij staatsbezoek President Bachelet van Chili
And I still remember that only a few months after that tragedy, in the following years, children from Chile arrived at our school telling us about the reasons why they fled their country; Why they were no longer safe in their own country; Why they would fight to restore democracy. And that their parents would lead that fight. I have very strong memories of that and I was surprised when I travelled to Chile in March, that it took me eighteen hours to get there. Because having had these friends in my classroom I thought Chile was almost right next door.
A remarkable country it is. Because it has been an example to the rest of the world on how you take care of a very dark phase in history. It is incredible, the way Chile has been able to digest very painful memories. It is an example to the rest of the world in the way people were put to justice. People who had committed very serious crimes. And nothing in Chile was swept under the carpet. In this way the people of Chile had the possibility to create a new future for themselves, without neglecting what had happened in the past. Impunity, which is so often an element in past dictatorship societies, never took place in Chile. And I think this is one of the main reasons why Chile is so successful as a democracy.
Now, I also said that I have the honour to introduce to you a very remarkable person. President Bachelet is very remarkable for many reasons. The main reason is that she has been relentless in her fight for human rights, in her fight for the position of women in Chilean society and especially also in her fight for the position of children in Chilean society. She has done so very publically. She has done so in very concrete ways that people can relate to and she has very much become the peoples’ President. And I know that we shall not change the constitution of Chile here today, so she will not run this time for President. But I must say to the President: your approval ratings are ratings any Dutch politician can only dream of.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you see this country in Latin America which is indeed eighteen hours away from Amsterdam by plane. And you visit the country and talk to the people; you see how close you are. And especially because of this incredible bond that was created between our two countries, as of 1973 we are very close indeed. We are close in international relations. We operate very closely in the United Nations. We have likeminded ideas on peacekeeping and likeminded ideas on the way the international criminal court should function. We also have likeminded ideas on how we should shape the future of our societies, of our children. Based on democracy, transparency, social justice and human rights.
It is therefore with great joy that I now ask President Bachelet to address this meeting and to share with us her view on the future of her continent, of her country and the position of human rights and democracy on her continent, President Bachelet.