BERLIN/SANTIAGO, March 30 (Reuters) – Germany will talk to Chile’s new right-wing government about reports that it is dropping plans to turn a settlement founded by a German cult leader and sex abuser into a memorial to victims of torture.
“The German government supports the project to establish a memorial in Chile. We will continue discussions on this, especially in light of this new information,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told a government press conference.
Chile’s housing minister, Ivan Poduje, was cited by La Tercera newspaper on Sunday as saying he would reverse the previous government’s decision for financial reasons.
Speaking to Chilean state broadcaster TVN on Monday, Minister Jose Garcia Ruminot, who is in charge of presidential affairs, explained that the project had been put on hold strictly for financial reasons.
“We have no interest in failing to meet international commitments, and therefore it is strictly for financial reasons and, as far as I know, it is only for the remaining months of this year,” he said.
The enclave, originally called Colonia Dignidad and renamed Villa Baviera, was founded in 1961 by Paul Schaefer, an evangelical preacher and cult leader who was later jailed for sexually abusing children.
He died in 2010, while serving a 20-year sentence.
During Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 right-wing dictatorship, the 290-acre (117-hectare) community hosted a secret prison for the torture of political prisoners by military forces.
Chile’s previous government had announced plans last year to expropriate the site and compensate property owners.
Around 100 people still live at the settlement, where businesses have tried in recent years to attract visitors to green fields and views of snow-capped mountains.
The spokesperson said the issue would be raised at the next German-Chilean joint commission meeting, which should normally take place within a few months.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray in Berlin and Luzinda Eliot in Santiago; additional reporting by Fabian Cambero, editing by Matthias Williams, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean)
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