[rad-green] 'A Victory for the Whole Country': Chile to Hold Referendum on Rewriting Constitution

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/15/victory-whole-country-chile-hold-referendum-rewriting-constitution
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/15/victory-whole-country-chile-hold-referendum-rewriting-constitution>Common
Dreams          November 15, 2019'A Victory for the Whole Country': Chile
to Hold Referendum on Rewriting Constitution"We are here thanks to many
Chileans that have risked their lives to make Chile a fairer country."by
Eoin Higgins, staff writer*

[image: Chileans in the country's streets marked a victory on Friday as the
government agreed to hold a referendum on replacing the dictatorship-era
constitution.]

*Chileans in the country's streets marked a victory on Friday as the
government agreed to hold a referendum on replacing the dictatorship-era
constitution. (Photo:  Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images)*

The Chilean government on Friday officially began the processs of writing a
new constitution for the country by approving a popular referendum, a bow
to the demands of the nationwide protest movement that began in Santiago on
October 15.

The referendum will ask the country to weigh in on whether the old
constitution, a relic of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet,
should be replaced. Voters will also have the opportunity to determine how
the new document is drafted.

"This is a victory for the whole country," Senate president Jamie Quintana,
a frequent critic of Chilean President Sebastien Piñera, said
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMs0VWs_wB> in a press conference early
Friday. "We offer for the first time a constitution that is 100%
democratic."

Quintana called the proposal the beginning of a "building of a true social
contract" and hoped that the process would mark the end of violent clashes
between demonstrators and security forces that have seen at least 20 people
dead.

Friday's announcement marks a formalization of a government declaration
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-protests/chile-to-re-write-pinochet-era-constitution-in-win-for-protesters-idUSKBN1XL1I1>
Monday
that the constitution would be rewritten, though no timeline was given
then.

In comments to *Bloomberg*, lawmaker Gabriel Boric of the left-leaning
Frente Amplio praised
<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-15/chile-lawmakers-reach-agreement-to-draw-up-a-new-constitution?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social>
the
protest movement and held up the constitution announcement as a success for
the people of Chile.

"We are here thanks to many Chileans that have risked their lives to make
Chile a fairer country," said Boric. "Political forces have reached
agreements that seemed impossible just a few days ago."

As *Common Dreams* reported
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/21/we-cant-remain-indifferent-chile-trade-unions-call-general-strike-support-student>,
protests began in October, sparked by a youth movement rejecting an
increase in subway fares in the capital Santiago. The unrest has continued
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/26/over-1-million-chileans-take-streets-demand-political-reforms-change-countrys>
in
the face of brutal state oppression as Chileans have stood fast for
political change.

On Friday, they got their wish.

"Now is the time to respond to citizens and do everything possible to build
a better, fairer Chile," said center-left Partido Por la Democracia leader
Heraldo Muñoz. "This fundamental charter needs to represent all of us."

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