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Chile to amend constitution, a key demand of protesters
SANTIAGO, Nov 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Chile announced Sunday it will move to
draft a new constitution and replace one dating back to the Augusto Pinochet
dictatorship — a key demand of protesters who have rocked the country for
three weeks.
The new constitution will be drafted by a body called a constituent
assembly and then put to a referendum for ratification, Interior Minister
Gonzalo Blumel said.
He made the announcement after a meeting with a coalition of center-right
and right-wing parties which until now had been the most reluctant to change
the Pinochet-era constitution.
The US-backed general ruled with an iron fist from 1973 to 1990.
Chile has been stunned by three weeks of sometimes violent and deadly
protests by people fed up with the status quo. They cite low wages, high
costs for education and health care and a yawning gap between rich and poor
in a country dominated politically and economically by a few old, elite
families.
Unrest that began on October 18 with protests against a rise in rush hour
metro fares has mushroomed into a broader outcry, with burning, looting and
daily clashes between demonstrators and police.
One of the protesters’ demands is changes to the constitution.
A survey by pollster Cadem published early this month said 87 percent of
Chileans favored such reforms.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0943 hrs