Viera-Gallo on Milei’s Coup Remarks: “They Open the Door to Endorsing Violence”

José Antonio Viera-Gallo said Javier Milei’s defense of Chile’s 1973 military coup crossed a dangerous line. The former Chilean ambassador to Argentina argued that such remarks “open the door to endorsing violence.”

Milei made the comments while taking part in the Madrid Forum, where he defended the military coup that led to Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. Viera-Gallo, a former senator from Chile’s Socialist Party, told El Mercurio that Milei was entitled to his views on Chile’s previous governments and on the coup itself.

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They open the door to endorsing violence.

But he said the Argentine president’s position was not politically appropriate. In Viera-Gallo’s view, endorsing the military takeover carries a broader implication because it can be understood as legitimizing violence.

Viera-Gallo separated the forum appearance from Milei’s bilateral meeting with Chilean President José Antonio Kast. He said the visit had two aspects: it was not an official working visit, but rather an appearance by Milei as the leader of a political current of thought to speak at the Madrid Forum. The supplied text ends as he begins describing the visit in that context.

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What he said at the Madrid Forum was not the most appropriate from a political point of view.