Chile Constitutional Convention Updates (Feb. 10, 2022)
A controversial proposal that could lead to Chile nationalizing some of the biggest copper and lithium mines in the world was approved in the first instance by the Constitutional Convention's environmental committee last week. The vote is the first of several hurdles that the proposal would need to clear before becoming a reality. It would require support from two thirds of the full assembly to become part of the draft charter that will be put to a referendum later this year. (Bloomberg)
Convention delegates emphasized that proposals that pass in commission are subject to changes before passing to the general assembly, where it would have to be approved by two-thirds of the delegates to form part of the new constitution. (BioBio Chile, El Mostrador)
The move takes clear inspiration in Salvador Allende's 1971 nationalization of copper, supported at the time by all of Congress, notes La Bot Constituyente. The current Chilean constitution, passed under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, prohibits the nationalization of mining resources, including lithium. President-elect Gabriel Boric campaigned on a promise to create a national lithium company, and to implement a "new governance" of the salt-flats, reports El País.
The same Constitutional Convention committee also passed a proposal to abolish Chile’s so-called sacrifice zones, areas heavily polluted by industrial activity. The proposal would create an environmental justice fund to provide resources for restorative actions in “areas historically affected by pollution and/or resource depletion,” among other issues. (BN Americas)
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Boric's cabinet represents unprecedented sexual diversity, a hopeful sign of change in the country and in the region for LGBTQ+ rights, argues Érika Montecinos Urrea in the Post Opinión.
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