Chile: Contemporary Chile

Contemporary Chile

In 2005, the constitution was amended to reduce the national influence of the military and reassert civilian control over it, eliminating some of the vestiges of Pinochet's dictatorship that had been preserved in the document, though the method of election to the Chilean Congress remained structured to guarantee significant minority, generally conservative, representation. Also in 2005, the border with Peru again became a source of international tension as Peru laid claim to offshore fishing waters that Chile controlled; a 2014 ruling by the International Court of Justice awarded Peru a little more than half of the disputed waters. Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist and a defense minister under Lagos, was elected president in Jan., 2006, after a runoff; she was the first woman to be elected president of Chile. Bachelet, the center-left candidate, won more than 53% of the vote, defeating conservative business entrepreneur Sebastián Piñera. The center-left coalition also won majorities in both houses of the Chilean congress.

In June, 2006, Chile saw massive protests over secondary school funding, some of which resulted in clashes with the police, and in early 2007, there were significant protests in Santiago over the disruption caused by a new public transportation system. The nation weathered the 2008–9 global financial crisis and recession relatively well as the government used financial reserves from the 2003–8 copper boom for a stimulus program. Twenty years of center-left rule ended in 2010 when Piñera defeated Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the former president who was the center-left candidate, in a January runoff election. Piñera's coalition also won a plurality in the lower house of the congress, but lost the upper house.

In Feb., 2010, the country was struck by a devastating earthquake, and significant aftershocks occurred in subsequent weeks. The worst damage was in Concepción and surrounding areas, but significant damage also occurred in Santiago and Valparaiso. Areas along the central coast also suffered from tsunamis. Deaths from the temblor were in the hundreds, but damage was estimated to be $30 billion. Some 220,000 homes were destroyed, and the wine and fishing industries were particularly affected by the earthquake. By mid-2012, however, the Chilean government estimated that three fourths of the needed reconstruction had been completed.

In the 2013 presidential election, Bachelet ran for a second term and, after falling short of an outright victory in the first round, handily won the runoff, defeating conservative Evelyn Matthei Fornet. Bachelet's coalition also won majorities in both houses of the Chilean congress. Strong earthquakes centered off N Chile in Apr., 2014, and Sept., 2015, resulted in significant but relatively limited damage. In Jan.–Feb, 2017, Chile experienced its worst wildfire season ever; some 1,400 sq mi (3,600 sq km) burned in central and S Chile. The presidential election in 2017 resulted in a second term for Piñera, who easily defeated the center-left candidate Alejandro Guillier in the runoff. Chile Vamos, Piñera's conservative coalition, also won pluralities in both houses of the congress. In Oct., 2019, a rapid transit fare hike sparked weeks of protests in a number of cities against economic inequality that turned violent at times; the protests continued into early 2020. In response, Piñera re-formed his cabinet, and the government rescinded the increase, announced a package of social welfare and other reforms, and enacted legislation that called for a referendum on revising the Pinochet-era constitution. In October, referendum voters resoundingly called for a new constitution. In the December 2021 presidential elections, leftist candidate Gabriel Boric defeated his hard-right opponent, José Antonio Kast, promising to expand the country's social safety net and support a more liberal constitution.

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