2021 Chilean Military Parade
| 2021 Chilean Military Parade | |
|---|---|
| Date | 19 September 2021 |
| Venue | O'Higgins Park |
| Locations | Santiago, Chile |
| Country | Chile |
| Participants | 6,510 military and police personnel |
The 2021 Chilean Military Parade was held at O'Higgins Park in Santiago on 19 September 2021 to commemorate the Day of the Glories of the Army. The ceremony was presided over by President Sebastián Piñera and involved 6,510 personnel from the Chilean Armed Forces, Carabineros de Chile and the Investigations Police of Chile (PDI).[1][2]
The parade marked the return of the traditional ceremony to O'Higgins Park after the 2020 edition had been replaced by a reduced military ceremony at the Military School because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile. The 2021 event was itself conducted under sanitary restrictions: the participating contingent was approximately 30 percent smaller than in a conventional parade and the general public was not admitted.[3][1]
The ceremony was also marked by tributes to people who had died from COVID-19 and to health workers, emergency personnel and other workers involved in the response to the pandemic. Battle standards carried black mourning ribbons, while a large Chilean flag was displayed during the opening tribute.[2][4]
Background
[edit]The Great Military Parade of Chile is traditionally held at O'Higgins Park on 19 September as the principal ceremony commemorating the Day of the Glories of the Army.[5]
In 2020, the traditional parade at O'Higgins Park was not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was replaced by a smaller ceremony at the Military School. With epidemiological conditions improving during 2021, the government and health authorities developed a special protocol to allow the parade to return to its traditional venue.[6]
The government announced that the ceremony would have approximately 30 percent fewer personnel than a regular parade and would take place without admission of the general public. Sanitary measures included vaccination requirements, PCR testing, face masks, temperature checks, physical distancing and restrictions on food consumption.[3][7]
The estimated cost of the event was 218 million Chilean pesos, around 40 percent less than the 2019 parade. Defence Minister Baldo Prokurica described the planned ceremony as a reduced and austere event adapted to the country's sanitary and economic circumstances.[8]
Demonstrations took place outside O'Higgins Park during the parade, resulting in at least 50 arrests and one police officer being injured; a separate protest was held by relatives of PDI detective Valeria Vivanco.[9][10]
Parade
[edit]The ceremony began at approximately 11:00 local time. Piñera attended together with Defence Minister Baldo Prokurica and Army commander-in-chief General Ricardo Martínez Menanteau. It was Piñera's final military parade as president during his second term and Martínez's final parade as commander-in-chief before the end of his tenure in 2022.[1][2]
Sanitary restrictions altered some of the traditional elements of the ceremony. The Club de Huasos Gil Letelier performed the customary cueca presentation, but Piñera did not drink the traditional chicha en cacho. Instead, the drinking horn and a bottle of chicha were presented separately in order to comply with health precautions.[11]
COVID-19 tribute
[edit]Before the main march-past, the ceremony included a tribute to health workers, firefighters, public-sector employees, transport workers, military and police personnel and others involved in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 50 representatives of groups involved in the pandemic response attended the ceremony as guests.[2][12]
Army personnel carried an 18-by-15-metre Chilean flag into the centre of the parade ground accompanied by the invited representatives. A minute of silence was observed for people who had died during the pandemic, and the battle standards of the participating institutions carried black mourning ribbons.[2][13]
Among those present for the tribute were physician Sebastián Ugarte and Army corporal Bryan Castillo, who had lost both legs after being struck by a vehicle while carrying out curfew enforcement duties in Curicó earlier in 2021.[2][4]
Participating forces
[edit]A total of 6,510 military and police personnel took part in the parade. The Chilean Army provided 3,074 personnel, the Chilean Navy 944, the Chilean Air Force 860, Carabineros 1,234 and the PDI 398. Approximately 17 percent of the total contingent were women.[2]
The Navy's contingent consisted of approximately 944 personnel and included representatives of the Arturo Prat Naval Academy and the Naval Polytechnic Academy.[14]
The Air Force contingent comprised 860 personnel and an aerial component of 25 aircraft. The flypast included ENAER T-35 Pillán training aircraft, five GB1 GameBird aircraft of the Halcones aerobatic team and ten F-16 fighter aircraft from the 3rd, 7th and 8th Aviation Groups.[15][16]
The Army's presentation included personnel from its training establishments, the II Motorized Division, III Mountain Division, Lautaro Special Operations Brigade, Army Aviation Brigade and the 1st Granaderos Presidential Escort Regiment. Members of the Lautaro Brigade publicly displayed the IWI ARAD assault rifle and the Army's new Multicam combat uniform during the parade.[17]
Unlike larger editions of the parade, the 2021 ceremony did not include the usual armoured vehicle component, one of several reductions made as part of the scaled-down format.[8]
The parade lasted approximately two and a half hours, ending at around 13:35.[2]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Ejército conmemora 211 años de vida en la Gran Parada Militar 2021" (in Spanish). Chilean Army. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Andrews, Juan Pablo; Yáñez, Cecilia (19 September 2021). "Parada Militar 2021 reúne a más de 7.000 personas e inicia con reconocimiento al personal de salud". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Parada Militar 2021: Revisa aquí los detalles del evento y dónde se podrá ver". 24 Horas (in Spanish). Televisión Nacional de Chile. 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Parada militar estuvo marcada por homenaje a funcionarios que han enfrentado pandemia". T13 (in Spanish). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ "Ceremonias y tradiciones" (in Spanish). Chilean Army. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ García, Nicolás (27 August 2021). "El Gobierno de Chile prepara un protocolo especial para realizar la Parada Militar 2021". Infodefensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ "Prokurica encabeza Revista Preparatoria de la Parada Militar en el Parque O'Higgins: "Recuperar las tradiciones es un tema que nos llena de gusto"". La Tercera (in Spanish). 15 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- 1 2 Reyes, Carlos (14 September 2021). "Parada Militar costará $218 millones, un 40% menos que lo que significó desfile de 2019". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ Flores Belmar, Jonathan (19 September 2021). "Parada Militar 2021: Carabineros dispersa protestas en las afueras del Parque O'Higgins". BioBioChile (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ "Al menos 50 detenidos y una carabinera herida dejaron desórdenes en las inmediaciones del Parque O'Higgins durante la Parada Militar". La Tercera (in Spanish). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ "Parada Militar no tuvo degustación de chicha en cacho debido a las restricciones sanitarias". ADN Radio (in Spanish). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ "Dr. Ugarte estuvo presente: Homenajean en la Parada Militar a quienes han contribuido a controlar la pandemia". Chilevisión Noticias (in Spanish). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ De Vicenzi, Pamela (19 September 2021). "Parada Militar 2021: homenaje a personal de salud, heridos y fallecidos por covid-19 marcó introducción". ADN Radio (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ Aránguiz, Óscar E. (20 September 2021). "F-16, el poder de la Fuerza Aérea de Chile en la Parada Militar 2021". Infodefensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ "El presidente Piñera destaca la capacidad disuasiva de las FFAA de Chile". Infodefensa (in Spanish). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
- ↑ García, Nicolás (20 September 2021). "El Ejército de Chile estrena la tenida Multicam y el fusil IWI Arad en la Parada Militar 2021". Infodefensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2026.
