“He was crucial to progressive unity”: Sergio Bitar remembers Camilo Escalona

For Sergio Bitar, Camilo Escalona’s political importance extended far beyond Chile’s Socialist Party. The former minister and founding member of the Party for Democracy remembered him as a central figure in the unity of the progressive movement.

Bitar mourned the death of Escalona, a historic Socialist leader and former president of the Senate, with whom he shared decades of political work. He described Escalona as a fundamental pillar of democratic stability and of the cohesion of progressive forces.

In an interview with Cooperativa, Bitar clarified that Escalona’s death did not result from the cancer that had affected him. Instead, he said, complications followed surgery on Escalona’s hip.

“Something happened with the operation and, when they operated on him again, he developed an infection and a bacterium, which is what caused this,” Bitar said. He had visited the politician’s family that morning.

Bitar also emphasized Escalona’s role as an organizer and political bridge-builder during some of the most difficult periods in the progressive camp. The article presents his legacy as one that crossed party boundaries and was tied to Chile’s democratic stability.

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Something happened with the operation and, when they operated on him again, he developed an infection and a bacterium, which is what caused this.