Arturo Prat II

El Mercurio de Valparaíso, Saturday, November 16, 2019

With indignation, we have witnessed how a mob destroyed the statue of Arturo Prat in Temuco. They destroyed a symbol that represents the main national hero of all Chileans, without distinction. A symbol of national unity, of love for the homeland, of noble values.

In Temuco, alone and armed with his invincible sword, Prat had to face a group of cowards who hide their faces. They knocked him off his pedestal, dragged him through the streets, and burned him. They may have thought that with this act they could erase him from memory and consciousness. How wrong they are!

In Temuco, he has been brought back to life. He has jumped back into the fray. Those who toppled his statue do not know who they are dealing with. In Temuco, Prat sacrifices himself again for the unity of an entire people without distinction. His sacrifice cannot be in vain. He reminds us that the homeland was bequeathed to us by our parents and grandparents. We have no right to throw away the work, sacrifice, and even the lives of so many who have forged our Chile.

Prat, dragged and humiliated through the streets of Temuco, shines again with a light of hope, pointing to today’s generations that all those who preceded us are watching over the homeland.

With his sacrifice in Iquique, Arturo Prat made our flag shine with radiant glory and gave all Chileans an example of a dignified, upright, brave, and good life. The cowardly hooded individuals who desecrated his statue have stained their cause and the flag that represents them with dishonor, hatred, evil, violence, crime, and baseness.

Matías Purcell