'An End to the Chapter of Dictatorship': Chileans Vote to Draft a New Constitution
Voters in Chile overwhelmingly approved a bid to scrap the charter inherited from Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, a move that could set a new course for the country.
On Sunday, just over a year after the massive demonstrations swept the nation, Chileans voted to scrap the dictatorship-era document and write a new one — a process that could transform the politics of a country that has long been regarded as one of the most stable and prosperous in Latin America.
The referendum was headed for a landslide victory; with 62 percent of the votes counted, 78 percent were cast in favor of a new Constitution, and it was leading in almost every part of the country.
Amalia Gómez, 66, barely gets by on a $125 monthly pension and picks up seamstress jobs to compensate. She and many others like her see a new Constitution as a path to better lives and a more equitable country for future generations.
“Why not, if we are a country rich in minerals, fish, agriculture?” she said. “Why can’t we use those resources to our benefit, for our education and health?”
At: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/25/world/americas/chile-constitution-plebiscite.html
A Santiago crowd celebrates today's landslide victory in favor of replacing Chile's 1980 constitution, enacted by the late fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Today's referendum - the product of a year of protests sparked by meager wages and pensions in a country with Latin America's highest per capita GDP - begins a process whose next step is an April 11 election for a constitutional convention.
