Chile to vote on Sunday to overhaul its constitution with radical changes or not
The proposed draft aims to replace the current constitution, first written during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), but despite several successive reforms – is still considered an obstacle to what the left sees as necessary social changes. Education, health care and pensions are still in the hands of the private sector. But despite an overwhelming majority of Chileans – close to four-fifths – voting previously to rewrite the constitution, opinion polls suggest the new document will be rejected.…
Chile’s looks into the abyss as assets dive when the government suffers an unexpected electoral defeat
The benchmark stock exchange closed down 9.3 percent, the biggest decline since the start of the pandemic in March of last year, while the peso fell 2.3 percent. Chilean assets plunged after the ruling coalition suffered a surprise drubbing in the election for a constituent assembly, placing the writing of a new charter firmly in the hands of the left-wing. The benchmark stock exchange closed down 9.3%, the biggest decline since the start of the pandemic in March of last year, while the peso fell 2.3%. Yields…
Chile heads into 2021 with a stronger economy but more political uncertainty.
Chile appears to be heading towards a period of political turmoil, accompanied by economic strength. It’s a credit to Chile’s institutional solidity that the sometimes-violent protests of October 2019 have now been channelled into a peaceful, democratic process. The result of the October 2020 referendum was never in doubt, but the margin of victory was greater than expected with 78% voting in favour of a new constitution. Political divisions For investors that vote signals the start of a two-year period…
Chile: Interview with Gemines chief economist Alejandro Fernández
Alejandro Fernández has been the chief economist at Gemines since 1990. A graduate of the University of Chile and the University of Rochester, he has also served as an adviser for Chile’s Ministry of the Economy and the World Bank, as well as an academic at the University of Chile. In October, President Sebastian Piñera hailed Chile as an oasis of stability in Latin America. However, the civil unrest that engulfed the country later that month and the subsequent promise of a new constitution have cast…
Piñera says the Chile protests involved foreign intervention
The Chilean President said that he has received information from the U.S. State Department. suggesting that behind the violence there is more at play than “habitual criminals” Chile’s president Sebastián Piñera said his government is investigating foreign intervention in last month’s violent protests in one of the most prosperous countries in the region. “There’s a lot evidence that behind this situation there are forces that previously they did not know were operating…
Piñera Surrenders, Will Accept New Chile Constitution
A new constitution is not only the beginning of the end for Piñera’s center-right government, but it is also the end of Chile as we know it While the socialist Evo Morales resigned as president of Bolivia, the Chilean government, through its Home Affairs Minister, announced that the process of creating a “constituent congress” had begun. In other words, politicians in the Chilean Congress have to draft a new constitution that is in line with current times and generate the “social pact” that the people…
Myths and Truths of Inequality in Chile: To What Extent this explains the outbursts shaking this advanced country
The profound differences between the upper tiers and the rest of the population are presented as the unique cause of the phenomenal crisis that the country has been experiencing for the past three weeks. However, the statistics show a contradictory reality, which does not stand up to simplistic explanations. After the deep economic reforms implemented during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, and since deepened since the return of democracy in 1990, Chile became a paradigm. For free-market advocates, it…
