“I know, and all of Chile is aware that this was not easy. And it is that, dear compatriots, democracy is not easy,” Boric said after receiving a copy of the draft document. “Regardless of the legal differences that may exist over the content of the text that will be discussed in the coming months, there is something that all Chileans should be proud of — at this time of the deepest political, institutional and social crisis that our country has lived for decades, Chileans have chosen more democracy, not less,” he said. The proposed constitution marks a departure from the country’s existing constitution, which was written under the influence of the neoliberal model of University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman. Despite the many amendments, the majority of Chileans blame it for the country’s stark inequalities. The proposed new constitution emphasizes social and ecological factors, enshrines the rights of Chile’s indigenous peoples, and provides for a new national health care system. The process to potentially replace the constitution inherited from the late General Augusto Pinochet, the dictator who ruled the country from 1973 to 1990, was sparked by a subway fare hike three years ago. Mass protests and riots across the country in the fall of 2019 forced then-president Sebastián Piñera to agree to a referendum to revise the constitution. In October 2020, more than 78% of Chilean voters approved the constitutional change, and in June 2021 they voted again to choose members for a constituent assembly. The centre-left and right-wing coalitions that have shared power since the return to democracy in 1990 were both badly hit, taking only 16% and 24% of the seats in the assembly respectively. Instead, independents and newcomers from left-wing political parties and social movements had their moment of glory, gathering 60% of the vote. Now the country is preparing to vote on the constitution they drafted, which could herald far-reaching changes in Chilean society. CNN’s Daniela Mohor W. contributed to this report.
