Let's discuss the proposed (and now soundly rejected) NEW CONSTITUTION OF CHILE

While it's still September, let's commemorate the 49th anniversary of the coup d'etat in Chile that cut short the democratically-elected administration of Salvador Allende and replaced it with someone and something else that was very much not that. (Longtime Fellow Travelers may fondly recall our previous discussion about Project CyberSyn on March 11, the day the current left-wing president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, was inaugurated .)

Also, this month the people of Chile voted in a plebiscite to choose whether or not to adopt a new Constitution to replace the long-standing old one put into place by Pinochet et al in 1980. The document was drafted by an elected Constitutional Convention, comprising an equal number of women and men and including representatives from Chile's indigenous groups. It recognized and defended rights for the natural environment itself, protected Chile's natural commons from private profiteering, ushered in new elements of direct democracy, and enshrined a number of progressive policies regarding gender parity and reproductive rights...

...and, alas, it was just REJECTED... in a really big way. ( Yet another FAILURE for Socialism? )

Let's talk about the process that led up to the plebiscite, take a look at the text of the new proposed Constitution itself, and see if we can't come to some sort of shared understanding about what happened. Below are some (optional) videos and articles to help get you started; post your own finds in the comments below.

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VIDEO :

• "The Other 9/11: How to make a nation scream" from Double Down News (25 minutes; September 2022 doc providing background on the 1973 coup and its aftermath)
• "How Chile Finally Scrapped its Dictator-Era Constitution" from VICE News (9 minutes; 2020 coverage of the protests and referendum that led to the formation of the new Constitutional Convention)
• "A New Chile" from Progressive International (4 minutes; pre-plebiscite publicity video)

TEXT :

• "Explainer: What's in Chile's proposed constitution?" from Reuters (brief summary of highlights from the Constitution)
• "Proposal: Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile", English translation of the proposed Constitution from Progressive International. (Not recommending you read the whole thing, but feel free to skim and focus on a Chapter(s) that interests you, like maybe "CHAPTER II. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES", "CHAPTER III. NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT", or "CHAPTER VI. REGIONAL, STATE, AND TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION".)
• "Chileans reject new constitution in plebiscite, President Boric promises new constitutional process" from Peoples Dispatch
• "Bewildering Vote in Chile that Rejected a New Constitution" by Taroa Zuñiga Silva and Vijay Prashad from Newsclick.in