Chile: Street name update

In an update to my recent post, the name of Avenida 11 de septiembre will now be changed to Nueva Providencia - and it's even made the English-language news.

This pretty much reflects what I wrote before,

The name was never meant to represent the victims’ memory but rather to celebrate the coup, Francisco Estévez, historian and coordinator of the group “Desmonumentar la Dictatura” told The Santiago Times.

“Memorials, if they are built to remember the victims and not the perpetrators, are a different thing altogether,“ he said. “Symbols are not neutral, and the Avenida 11 de Septiembre is a survivor of the dictatorship.“

The vote was four to one, with the one being Manuel José Monckeberg as discussed previously. The name change is to go through "within the year" apparently. 

Good decision.

Concejo municipal aprueba cambio de nombre de Av. 11 de septiembre a Nueva Providencia (La Tercera)
Chile Changes Name of Avenue Marking Military Coup (NY Times)
Street name celebrating Chilean Sep. 11 coup to be changed (Santiago Times)

Image credit: RiveraNotario / Flickr