TOMAS IN TOUR: GREAT EUROPEAN INTEREST IN THE EXPERIENCE OF PODEMOS IN CHILE

Categorie: Tomas Hirsch

 

Tomás Hirsch, ex-presidential candidate for the pact Juntos Podemos, in exclusive conversation with Prensa Humanista from Italy spoke at length about his first four days on tour around the old continent.
In his numerous meetings he noted the doubts of the Italians with respect to Juntos Podemos and how this has been inserted in the new Latin American reality with presidents Lula, Chávez and Morales leading a new process of articulation of the left in the continent.
“The reception has been surprising, I’ve been impressed.  I have spent four days on tour but it feels like it’s been many weeks.  We have had an intense schedule that started on Monday in Milan and that has not stopped until now”, commented the Humanist leader.
In Milan, Tomás Hirsch was interviewed on the most important radio station of the Italian left, “Popolare” that broadcasts from Milan to the whole country.  The same day, a meeting was held with more that 400 people in the same place where a few months ago President Chávez spoke to the people of Milan.  Here he also met with Podemos of Italy which has been put together by a group of Chileans living in the country.
On Tuesday 21st he moved on to the city of San Giovanni.  The event started with a showing of the Patricio Guzmán film, “Allende”.  In a full house, everyone enjoyed the Italian version of the film and was impressed by the images.
Hirsch spoke during the event in a chat about how Juntos Podemos captures the legacy of Allende and is projecting it towards the future.
“The people here are very interested to know how we managed to come together and give strength to the project of Juntos Podemos”, added the ex-presidential candidate.
On Wednesday, Tomás covered his third city in three days.  “In Turin we held a meeting with Humanists here who have a well organised party.  Here I met with the candidates for Mayor and local councillor in the elections that will take place in May”, Hirsch indicated.
After the meeting of the HP in Turin, Tomás participated in “The Days of Peace”, where he was one of the central speakers at the event that centred around the experiences of direct democracy.
“He we presented the process of direct and participative democracy of Podemos, elaborating on the programme of our campaign in more than 150 community conventions.  With the generation of the candidacy through the plebiscite that took place last year.  All of these experiences were enriched through the participation of the people”, pointed out the Humanist leader.
Today, Tomás travelled to Modena, where he gave a long interview to the most important community TV station in Europe, Rainbow TV, which is run by the Chilean Rodrigo Vergara.

 

The Podemos model attracting Europe

Juntos Podemos generates a lot of faith in the process that the Chilean left is going through.  Tomás Hirsh has said this time and again in the many conferences and meetings that have taken place.
“The people are very interested to know about the process of Podemos in Chile, playing in this new Latin American concerto.  There are doubts that are repeated in all the forums that I participate in and it has to do with how was the process of achieving unity in the left, how did we overcome the differences and how we reached agreement”, Hirsch commented.
What was also repeated among the participants at the activities with Tomás Hirsch was the important efforts of the Humanist Party which hasn’t always been part of the history of the traditional Chilean left but because of this has been able to help build bridges among the political and social organisations that make up Juntos Podemos.
However Tomás stressed that “every organisation had their own virtues and helped the process of building the Pact”.
Finally, the interest of the Europeans has also been centred on the work with young people and how Podemos reached them and all the other sectors that make up the Chilean left.  “This was a question that was repeated because here there is a dream that is growing in Europe and it is to once more unite the left that is very fragmented and an important part of which has moved to the centre left towards social democracy”, Tomás Hirsch concluded.

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