New constitution in Chile

[Mikel2]

Looks like Chile will be scrapping the Pinochet-era constitution. Any predictions as to how this will affect the country long term?

[RETAC21]

24 minutes ago, Mikel2 said:

Looks like Chile will be scrapping the Pinochet-era constitution. Any predictions as to how this will affect the country long term?

Depends on the actual writing, if the constitution is able to create balanced powers, its social democrat bias shouldn't be an issue, but if it adopts a system based on political parties as the main motor for the political process, I foresee problems.

[TrustMe]

In Chile by law, a certain percentage of the money made from copper mines goes directly to the military enabling them to have a lot of money to spend on arms. Maybe this won't happen anymore.

[T19]

6 hours ago, TrustMe said:

In Chile by law, a certain percentage of the money made from copper mines goes directly to the military enabling them to have a lot of money to spend on arms. Maybe this won't happen anymore.

That is a policy, not a constitutional right.  Any Govt can change that, but why would you?

[TrustMe]

I stand corrected.

[Stargrunt6]

I read this article about it.  From what it says, most of the constitution's changes occurred after Pinochet was voted out of office.  I think it's cool that it had some pretty airtight laws regarding eminent domain.

https://quillette.com/2020/10/22/chiles-elites-are-creating-another-latin-american-populist-meltdown-voters-must-stop-them/

 

[RETAC21]

It's in Spanish. The gist is that it doesn't look good

https://www.vozpopuli.com/opinion/constituyente-chile-proceso.html

 

[Simon Tan]

Chile will become a PRC fiefdom.

[sunday]

First Cuban, then Commie Chinese.

[Simon Tan]

It's not like there is much to look forward to 'Western' leadership. At least with Chicom you get cheap stuff.

[sunday]

Yes, especially a bullet in the back of the head.

[Simon Tan]

As opposed to say freefall. 

[sunday]

Heh!

Usually one needs fewer helo trips for Commies than headshots for non-Commies.

[JasonJ]

Last year, Chile had a selection between two options for a new undersea cable that would connect it to asia. The destination for the cable by NEC was Tokyo. The destination of the other cable option by Huawei was Shanghai. They selected the former. General US pressure against Huawei helped. 

[BansheeOne]

If a new constitution fails because it's too left-wing for the popular majority, try one that's too right-wing for them!

Quote

Chile rejects second attempt to renew constitution

Published 20 hours ago | last updated 9 hours ago

A previous draft that was written up by a left-wing-dominated committee was rejected in 2022. The new draft, penned by the far-right opposition, was also voted down.

Chileans voted down a new conservative constitution on Sunday that was drafted to replace the country's dictatorship-era text.

With 99.65% of ballot boxes tallied, a total of 55.76% Chileans rejected the new text while 44.24% voted in favor of it.

"The country got polarized, divided," President Gabriel Boric said during a televised address.

He said the result shows the process "didn't channel the hopes of having a new constitution written by everyone."

The draft constitution was written by the far-right Republican Party, and it was the second attempt to replace the constitution written under military dictator Augusto Pinochet after Chileans also voted down a progressive text last year.

"We failed in the effort to convince Chileans that this would be a better constitution than the existing one," said Republican leader Jose Antonio Kast.

[...]

The progressive proposal in 2022 included stronger protections for Indigenous rights, proposals to protect natural resources such as water, a requirement for women to hold at least half of positions in public institutions, and the right to abortion.

The conservative text that the public voted on over the weekend instead enshrined the right to life from the moment of conception and allowed for the expedited deportation of undocumented migrants.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/chile-rejects-second-attempt-to-renew-constitution/a-67749225

[Ssnake]

The Chileans I know agree that a new constitution is overdue. Just not THESE ones.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Why don't they just put in a paragraph about not dropping people out of helicopters?

[rmgill]

Not enough free helicopter rides?

Edited December 18, 2023 by rmgill

[Ivanhoe]

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

Article I: tbd

Article II: tbd

Article III: tbd

Article IV: tbd

Article V: tbd