Drafting In a New Future: Chile's Constitutional Referendum

On Jan 11 the votes of another Chilean election were counted, in comes another bill to begin the process to redraft the dictatorship-era constitution, with majority approval from the Senate, Congress, and the president.

“The bill calls for the creation of a Commission of Experts of 24 members, a Constitutional Council of 55 members, and a Technical Admissibility Committee for redrafting Chile’s new Magna Carta.”

For the first time, Chile will undergo a constitutional referendum, similar to the failed one last September, that received 62% of the disfavor vote from the population.

Progressive organizations and social movements in civil society are supporting the initiative of the referendum and expect to combat the reactionary narratives that dissuaded many workers and communities from voting in favor of the referendum last year.

Again, the last referendum led to a proposed constitution, “which was considered to be one of the most progressive constitutions in the world and addressed the country’s stark social inequalities. It established numerous remarkable progressive changes in terms of social justice, gender equality, Indigenous peoples’ rights, environmental protection, participatory democracy, among others.”

Despite, the Chilean state was unsuccessful to pass a new constituent, their civil society organizations and supporters continue to advocate for a referendum to effectively persuade and reflect the demands and aspirations of the marginalized communities and popular classes.

The details on this process are laid in here, People's Dispatch.

And read about the Mapuche’s nation to take back land in Chile, and how the state and Mapuche are interacting around this issue, Earth.Co.