Chile, where on Sunday voters rejected a new constitution that would have replaced the one imposed by the military dictator General Augusto Pinochet, who seized power 49 years ago in a U.S.-backed military coup, with one of the most progressive charters in the world. Results show about 62% of Chileans voted “no,” while 38% voted in favor of the new constitution.
The proposed charter grew out of anti-austerity demonstrations in 2019. It was the first in the world to be written by an equal number of male and female delegates, and included on new rights for Indigenous people, legalized abortion, mandated universal healthcare and new commitments to address the climate crisis. It also strengthened regulations on mining, prompting an editorial from The Washington Post editorial board that opposed the constitution based in part on how it could make it harder for the United States to acquire Chilean lithium used for batteries in laptops and cars.
Chile’s President Gabriel Boric has been a major supporter of the new constitution since he was elected in December and sworn in this past March as the youngest president in the
— source democracynow.org | Sep 06, 2022