The Chilean Museum of Memory and Human Rights (MMDH) has received the X King of Spain Human Rights Award and stated that the recognition comes at an “interesting political moment,” less than two months before far-right leader and Augusto Pinochet sympathizer José Antonio Kast assumes the presidency. “It comes at an interesting political moment when we need these supports even more,” MMDH director María Fernanda García told the EFE news agency. The jury evaluated a total of 57 applications from 14 countries. The museum's central mission is to commemorate the victims of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990) and document the systematic human rights violations committed during that period, with the aim of ensuring they are not repeated. The museum's collection includes oral and written testimonies, legal documents, letters, personal accounts, literary works, press, audiovisual, and radio material, feature films, historical archives, and documentary photographs. “It is an institution built with the collective memory of those who suffered the dictatorship, but also with the memory of an entire society,” García explained, highlighting that the award particularly recognizes the museum's work in human rights education. For its director, the museum is a “living museum” that also addresses new-generation human rights issues, such as the impact of climate change, disinformation, and rights violations around the world. The award, endowed with 25,000 euros, will be presented by King Felipe VI next May at the University of Alcalá.
