To Counter the Madrid Forum, Opposition Prepares “Democracy Always” Summit

Chile’s opposition is organizing its own political gathering on the same day and in the same city as the Madrid Forum, framing the event as a defense of the country’s democracy against the conservative right-wing summit.

The “Democracy Always” meeting will bring together parties ranging from the Communist Party to the Christian Democrats at the Hotel Fundador in central Santiago. PPD leader and lawmaker Raúl Soto said it has “one single objective: to defend the democracy we have built together over the past decades in Chile.”

Soto said the opposition would invite both political parties and citizens to reject the Madrid Forum. He also criticized President José Antonio Kast and Public Security Minister Martín Arrau for attending it, saying Kast should act as head of state for all Chileans, regardless of political differences.

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one single objective: to defend the democracy we have built together over the past decades in Chile

“If he goes to that forum, he will do so representing Chile’s far right, and not all Chilean men and women,” Soto said. The Madrid Forum will begin on Thursday and continue for two days in San Carlos de Apoquindo. The event was founded by Kast and is promoted by the Spanish Disenso Foundation, which is linked to the Vox party. Organizers plan to conclude it on Friday with the signing of a joint declaration.

The opposition gathering will also launch a broader program, although the provided account ends before giving further details.

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If he goes to that forum, he will do so representing Chile’s far right, and not all Chilean men and women