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South America and South Atlantic Islands
Chile |
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Country information
Politics
Chile has made a successful transition from military government to stable democracy. It has a successful, liberal market economy. There is a free, though somewhat conservative, media and low levels of corruption. (In Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index 2006, Chile is the highest ranked Latin American country and is 20 out of 163 countries overall.) Since returning to democracy in 1990, Chile has been governed by four consecutive centre-left coalition governments, formed by the Concertación bloc of parties. The Concertación comprises the Christian Democrats, the Party for Democracy, the Socialist Party and the Radicals. The leaders of the first 2 Concertación governments, Presidents Aylwin and Eduardo Frei, were both Christian Democrats. The successor, Ricardo Lagos, was therefore Chile's first Socialist Head of State since the overthrow of President Allende in 1973. On 15 January 2006, Socialist Michelle Bachelet, also representing the Concertación, won the Presidential elections to become Chile's first female President. Bachelet will govern until 2010, as the Constitutional Reform of 2005 reduced presidential terms to 4 years from the current 6.
Bachelet does not represent a major change of direction for Chile: Chile's successful economic model has not changed. Achieving higher rates of economic growth is a priority for Chile, but the government is seeking to combine this with social justice, poverty alleviation and a reduction of big inequalities in income between the rich and the poor. The government is also pursuing a programme to reform the health, social security and education systems as well as further constitutional reform. The government had been handicapped however, by its lack of a commanding majority in Congress. This changed in December 2005, when, for the first time, the centre-left coalition obtained a majority in the parliamentary elections.
Chile has a bicameral parliament, the National Congress, which consists of the Senate (upper house) and the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate currently has 38 members elected by popular vote. Senators serve for 8-year terms. Elections are held every 4 years to choose half the elected members of the Senate and all the members of the Chamber of Deputies. The most recent elections were held on 11 December 2005, when 20 of the 38 Senators and all of the deputies (120 in total) were elected. The Concertación gained more seats than its opposition in both houses (deputies and senators) for the first time. It now has 20 seats in the Senate compared to 17 seats for the Alliance for Chile (and one independent), and 65 deputies, compared to 54 for the Alliance of Chile (and one independent).
Constitutional reform
On 16 August 2005 a bill embodying 58 constitutional reforms was approved by Congress, and endorsed by then President Lagos. Lagos made the reforms an objective of his government and they came into effect on 11 March 2006. This is the first major reform of congress since 1980. The key features of the reforms include:
- Presidential terms reduced from 6 years to 4.
- The end of designated senators and 'senators for life' (previously awarded to former Presidents), leaving just 38 senators elected by popular vote
- Responsibility removed from the armed forces as 'institutional guarantors'; the change in functions of the National Security Council (Cosena); and the restoration of power to the president to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces and the forces of order.
The reform is a milestone for Chile's continuing transition to democracy as it eliminates the so-called 'authoritarian enclaves' (military government appointees who had occupied seats in the Senate and who have traditionally been a block to reforms proposed by the governing left-wing coalition).
The modification of the binominal electoral system (another Pinochet legacy which gives disproportionate representation to the right) was another aspiration of President Lagos, but he did not succeed in gaining the support of all the political forces in order to change it. Nonetheless it has opened up the debate in Chile and the then President-elect Michelle Bachelet made an election promise to reform the electoral system during her Presidential term.
Human rights
Chile has ratified the following international human rights treaties:
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination;
- Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women;
- Convention against Torture or other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Chile is also a Party to the American Convention on Human Rights and has accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights based in San José.
UK support for human rights
The British Embassy in Santiago monitors human rights developments closely and promotes human rights in Chile.
In the area of child rights, we have provided funding for a child protection website, which features an online counselling section for abused children. We have also organised a seminar and workshops on the trafficking law, to raise awareness of the protection offered to the children (and adults) who are trafficked within Chile and across its borders.
In the area of justice, we supported a 3-year project on the protection of human rights in the Chilean prison system, in co-operation the Ministry of Justice and the International Centre for Prison studies. We also sponsored a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) seminar on 'Access to Justice', attending which will be a British speaker from the Law Centres Federation.
The Embassy also places great importance on supporting the government's environmental policy, and we do this by backing projects in this area. For example we held a seminar in July 2005 on Responsible Tourism, which brought together representatives from the environmental agencies, tourism companies and agencies, academics, environmentalists, the government, and local community groups (including from Rapa Nui or 'Easter Island'). We have also sponsored a 'Wetlands' project, aimed at protecting one of the fragile wetlands areas of Chile, by educating the local community and encouraging their involvement in its protection. We are currently working on a new range of initiatives relating to Climate Change and Energy Efficiency for 2007-2008.
