Photo: AFP.

Santiago de Chile, Aug 10 (RHC) The Santiago City Council decided Wednesday to rename several streets, squares and bridges to pay tribute to the victims of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, 50 years after the coup d'état in Chile.

The decision, proposed by social and human rights organizations, was adopted by nine votes in favor and two against.

In the opinion of the mayor of the commune of Santiago, Irací Hassler, this is a milestone to recognize the past, maintain the memory and build the future of the country.

From now on, Santa Monica Street will be renamed Jaime Castillo Velasco, a lawyer, politician, former minister and defender of several human rights causes such as the exile of Chileans and the crime of former foreign minister Orlando Letelier.

Maule will be renamed Carlos Lorca Tobar, one of the two parliamentarians detained and disappeared in 1975 by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990); while Pasaje Delfina will be named after Alicia Aguilar, a six-year-old girl murdered by that regime.

Other streets, squares and bridges will be named after Carlos Humberto Contreras, Jécar Antonio Nehgme, Patricio Bunster, Carolina Wiff Sepúlveda, Ronald Wood, Elisa del Carmen Escobar Cepeda, Littré Quiroga Carvajal and Lincoyán Berríos Cataldo.

Councilwoman Dafne Concha, president of the Memory and Human Rights Commission, stressed the importance of keeping the history of those who contributed to democracy for future generations.

"Only what is forgotten dies. Each one of these spaces reminds us of the lives that the dictatorship took from us," said Councilwoman Rosario Carvajal (Source: Prensa Latina).