translated from Spanish: Pablo Ortúzar and the future of General Baquedano’s statue: “We have the possibility to use it as a first symbol of a new Chile”

In the midst of a series of speculations regarding the future of the monument of General Manuel Baquedano, the anthropologist and researcher of the Institute for the Studies of society (IES), Pablo Ortúzar, raises the possibility of using the emblematic statue as “a first symbol of a new Chile”,
“Trying to start building symbols of this new agreement, of this new coexistence, is a positive thing, a good thing,” Ortúzar said, in an interview with Emol.
In the opinion of the anthropologist, in the current social context that goes through Chile, “we have the opportunity to use Plaza Italia, especially the statue of General Baquedano, who unintentionally many people have no idea who he is, who is also a tomb, as a first symbol of a new Chile, but of a new Chile for all. Not as a space of division, but as a space of encounter and forward commitment.”
General Baquedano’s monument was on the palestra when it was painted red on Friday, October 16 and Sunday, October 18, by protesters during the protests commemorating the 18-O. Statue to which its original color was restored during the early morning.

Original source in Spanish