Italian Citizens Rally to Preserve Salvador Allende’s Legacy Amid Far-Right Proposal to Rename Sports Facility

Original article: Ni Armani lo avalaría: en Italia defienden la memoria de Salvador Allende tras capricho ultraderechista

Citizen associations in the Italian town of Cinisello Balsamo, located in the province of Milan, are staunchly defending the memory of Salvador Allende in response to a proposal by the far-right political party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) to change the name of the sports complex dedicated to the former Chilean president and historical figure of the left to that of fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who passed away on September 4th.

This initiative from the municipal bloc associated with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sparked intense debate and controversy in this northern Italian municipality of 75,000 residents, which opened its doors to hundreds of Chileans fleeing the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet following the coup against Allende in 1973.

The situation escalated during a session held on October 20 at the city’s Town Hall, which was suspended due to scuffles and incidents involving attendees and council members, leading to the postponement of the vote on changing the name of the «Palazzetto dello sport Salvador Allende» until Thursday, October 30.

“It has been a long time since we have seen such a considerable turnout for a council meeting. Such diverse participation, with so many free citizens and organizations present, demonstrates how divisive the right’s proposal to remove Allende’s name from the sports hall is in our city,” stated the left-wing coalition in a joint statement.

“We demand that the author of the motion withdraw his proposal as soon as possible and restore calm in the Town Hall and among citizens so that we can focus on the real issues facing Cinisello Balsamo. Now is not the time to divide our community by tarnishing the history of Cinisello Balsamo, which was at the forefront of welcoming so many Chilean refugees in the 1970s and defending democratic values in the face of Pinochet’s coup,” they indicated in the statement.

In line with this, the local leader of the Democratic Party, Andrea Catania, stated that honoring the former Chilean president “is not an ideological oddity,” as it “tells a story of welcome and solidarity, when in 1973 Cinisello opened its doors to the Chilean refugees fleeing the dictatorship.”

According to Catania, the initiative from Brothers of Italy constitutes an act of historical revisionism.

“It is clearly an operation to rewrite history, disguised under the name of Armani. Those currently governing Cinisello demonstrate that they do not know their past and, above all, that they do not love it enough to defend its memory,” he criticized.

In comments to the newspaper La Repubblica, the proponent of the proposal, Maurizio Colosimo, stated that he holds nothing against Allende, but prefers the facility to be named after Armani, citing the designer’s connection to sports, particularly basketball, as the owner of the Olimpia Milano team.

Organizations Warn that the Far Right Seeks to Erase Historical Memory

In response to this situation, citizen associations in Cinisello and across Italy have expressed their displeasure and rejection of the proposal to change the name of the sports complex, deeming it highly divisive and aimed at canceling the antifascist historical memory of the municipality.

The National Association of Partisans of Italy (ANPI) warned that the far right seeks to eradicate memory by removing symbols.

“The symbol in our city that remembers the attack on democracy and freedom of the Chilean people, which occurred on September 11, 1973, with the bloody coup that overthrew the democratically elected president Salvador Allende, replacing him with the fascist dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, is the Palazzetto dello Sport, dedicated precisely to Allende,” they stated in a communiqué.

“The ANPI section of Cinisello Balsamo thus joins the voices that have risen in recent days to protest against the unjustified proposal to dedicate the Palazzetto dello Sport to Giorgio Armani, erasing the current name,” they added.

In their statement, they reminded that the decision to name the sports complex after Allende occurred at a significant historical moment for the city.

“It took place on November 12, 1973, two months after the coup that cost the life of the Chilean president, with a concert by the La Scala Orchestra conducted by Maestro Claudio Abbado and featuring pianist Maurizio Pollini (…) the coup had a devastating impact in Italy, both politically and socially, and Italian citizens followed with emotion and a spirit of solidarity the tragic events faced by the Chilean people, which suffered bloody repression (approximately 40,000 people disappeared, killed in the most brutal ways). We must not forget the role played by our embassy in Santiago, which sheltered hundreds of refugees, later transferred to Italy,” they recounted.

ANPI stated that the coup in 1973 also “tells the story of the public and private, generous and silent welcome from Italians of that time.”

“Our city welcomed some exiles, thanks particularly to the great solidarity shown by the Jacopo Lombardini Cultural Center. The closeness to the Chilean people has never waned, even afterwards, and over the years has manifested itself in numerous initiatives, such as concerts by Inti-Illimani at the Palazzetto, or the mural artworks by members of the muralist Brigade, composed of Chilean exiles, one of which still remains on the exterior wall of the Town Hall on Via XXV Aprile, restored by one of the authors, Héctor Mono Carrasco, in 2013, for the 40th anniversary of the coup,” they highlighted.

For the association, the dedication not only serves as a tribute to the heroic figure of Allende, but also symbolizes the profound spirit of friendship that has united Italy and Cinisello Balsamo with Chile and its history since 1973.

Finally, they questioned the far-right’s intent to silence memory, exposing citizens to the risk of forgetfulness, and warned that “the loss of memory leads to a loss of identity and ultimately to a loss of values.”

The Associazione Cile-Italia (Chile-Italy Association) has also defended Salvador Allende’s legacy against the proposal from the representatives of Meloni’s party.

“As an association, we are supporting opposition parties, which in this case are left-wing, not to yield the name, because we believe the arguments put forth by the right are not strong enough to warrant a change,” stated the group’s leader, Paulina Solís, in conversation with El Ciudadano.

“There are several Chilean associations, in addition to the opposition left-wing parties and many citizen organizations that are questioning why they want to change the name, because there is a history of 300 Chileans who arrived here in the municipality of Cinisello Balsamo after the coup,” she remarked.

“They consider it an absurdity, with little foundation,” she pointed out.

Legacy of Allende and the Exiles from the Dictatorship

Solís shared her experience attending the sessions held in the Town Hall where the proposal to change the name of the sports complex was discussed.

“Never before have there been so many people at the town council. I participated in the last two town council meetings where this issue was on the agenda, and the people heartfelt this period (…) I have lived here for a long time and was surprised because I wasn’t even aware of how deeply the community feels this legacy, this bond with this event,” she highlighted.

“The people who approached the Town Council are angry because they were there, for example, when the Palazzetto dello sport, the Salvador Allende sports complex, was inaugurated, when the Philharmonic from Teatro La Scala came, when Inti-Illimani performed, and when a muralist brigade was present. So, they (the community) lived through this entire period and say, ‘we hold in our hearts these people, the exiles’ (…) They feel that bond between Cinisello Balsamo and Salvador Allende, with Chile,” explained the member of the association founded after the presidential election on December 14, 1989, which were the first free elections held in Chile after the coup of 1973.

In Solís’s view, the residents of the municipality feel that Allende “belongs to them and believe that Armani does not represent them.”

“The people do not want the name of the sports complex changed because they find it inappropriate, because with all due respect to the renowned Giorgio Armani, they feel that there is no bond between the designer and the city,” she pointed out.

“Armani Would Not Have Agreed to Change the Name Either”

For Paulina Solís and the members of the Chile-Italy Association, Giorgio Armani would not have agreed to change the name of the Salvador Allende sports hall.

In conversation with El Ciudadano, she referred to the last interview the Italian designer gave to journalist Simone Marchetti, published in Vanity Fair in January 2024.

“In his last interview, Armani says that the Inti-Illimani (a vocal and instrumental Chilean group born within the Nueva Canción Chilena movement) saved his first fashion show, and when asked what advice he would give to today’s politicians, he says that they should not forget the past,” she pointed out.

In fact, during the interview, the journalist reminded the designer that he had spoken against populism and in favor of democracy on several occasions. What advice would he give to today’s politicians? he was asked,

To which Armani replied: “They should study what happened. They should not forget. I always want to vote only for people who pursue democracy and freedom and who do not forget what the past was.”

Petition to Preserve the Name of Salvador Allende

Paulina Solís indicated that on Thursday, October 30, the session at Cinisello Balsamo’s Town Hall will resume to address the proposal to change the name of the Salvador Allende sports complex.

“Between 9 and 10 in the morning the Council will start again, where they will discuss the 45 amendments to the proposal, but the opposition is fighting back, and it is not yet known whether they will proceed to other instances, because in theory, now that Armani has recently passed away, I believe they need to wait ten years to name any structure or facility after him,” she noted.

She also emphasized that a group of associations is conducting signature collection events to ensure the sports complex retains the name of Salvador Allende.

“Changing the name would be a very painful situation, because I find that abroad, particularly here in Italy, where I am currently living, they hold Allende in very high esteem (…) I believe that his message on a global level is very strong,” she affirmed.