The Catalan regional president, Pere Aragonès, presented the XX Joan Alsina Human Rights Award to the former president and former United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, at a ceremony held at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago.
“Giving this award to President Michelle Bachelet is an honor and a recognition of a constant and unalterable commitment to the defense of human rights,” said Aragonés, who also highlighted the “contribution” of the former president in incorporating the perspective of gender and the right to the environment to human rights.
The ceremony recalled the figure of the Catalan priest assassinated by the Police during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990).
“Today Joan Alsina is one of the bridges that unites the shared memory between Chile and Catalonia,” said the Catalan president.
After a few words of thanks, Bachelet recalled the last days of the priest and recalled that in those days they knew “that in the [hospital] San Juan arrested a person and shot him”, but at that time they still did not know “that it was Joan Alsina”.
The former president was awarded this recognition in December virtually, but this Monday she collected the award from Aragonés in a tribute that was also attended by the Spanish ambassador to Chile, Rafael Garranzo; the delegate of the Catalan Government in the Southern Cone, Josep Vives; Miquel Royo, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Catalan Government and President of Casa América Catalunya, which awards the prize, and the President of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights Foundation, Marcia Scantlebury.
With this activity, the president closes his visit to Chile, where on Monday he also met with the ministers of the Government of President Gabriel Boric of Finance, Mario Marcel, and Economy, Nicolás Grau.
After traveling for nine days, Aragonès finished his Latin American tour, which also took him to Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina.
![[En video] What a cucumber: This is the Puskás and look no further](https://latin-american.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/En-video-What-a-cucumber-This-is-the-Puskas-and-1024x601.jpg "[En video] What a cucumber: This is the Puskás and look no further")
