International

Chile: rocky road to new constitution

AFP

Chileans head to the polls for a referendum on September 4 to vote on a proposed new constitution that would overhaul the country’s dictatorship-era system.

Here is a timeline of the country’s turmoil since bloody protests broke out nearly three years ago, in which a new constitution was a key demand.

2019: violent clashes

Protests in Chile’s capital, Santiago, against a rise in metro fares on October 18, 2019, escalate into clashes between police and demonstrators angry at gaping social inequality.

Center-right president Sebastian Pinera declares a state of emergency.

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Soldiers are deployed in the city the following day for the first time since the end of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

Pinera — a billionaire — suspends the ticket price hike, but protests and clashes continue.

‘Chile is awake’

The state of emergency is extended to other regions as protests spread with people chanting: “Chile is awake.”

About 30 people are killed.

Pinera apologizes and announces more social spending on October 22, but a general strike begins with leaders demanding the military return to barracks.

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After some 1.2 million Chileans take to the streets in Santiago on October 25, the curfew and state of emergency are lifted and Pinera reshuffles his cabinet.

The street movement continues.

Constitutional referendum

In a breakthrough on November 15, lawmakers agree to a key opposition demand for a referendum on replacing the Pinochet-era constitution.

The government follows this up in early December with a $5.5-billion social plan, and a month later, the president announces reforms of the health system.

The United Nations, meanwhile, denounces multiple rights violations by police.

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2020: New clashes

After a period of calm despite demonstrations every Friday in Santiago, new clashes in late January 2020 turn deadly, with four people killed.

Violence erupts again on February 23 at Vina del Mar near Valparaiso, and then in early March in several other towns.

The president announces police reform.

Virus, referendum put off

Chile declares a “national disaster” in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, with protests paused and a referendum — originally scheduled for April — postponed until October.

‘Yes’ to new constitution

On October 25, Chileans vote by nearly four to one (79 percent) for a new constitution to be drawn up.

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2021: more delays

In late March 2021, Chile locks down four-fifths of its population as the virus surges again. The election of the constituent assembly charged with revising the constitution is put off to May.

Leaning left, new president

A third of newly-elected members of the constitutional convention — a majority left-leaning — are independents, with no single group winning a majority.

In the presidential election at the end of 2021, many voters after a polarized campaign — driven either by anti-communist sentiment or fear of a return to rightwing tyranny — opt to cast a protest vote for the candidate they consider the “lesser evil.”

Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric wins the election on December 19.

2022: progressive prospects

The new president introduces several measures addressing the economy and social rights.

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In April he presents a recovery plan of 3.7 billion dollars, notably to help families and create 500,000 jobs.

On July 4 Chile’s constitutional convention hands its draft to Boric. If adopted, it will make Chile one of the most progressive countries in the region.

In the first of the new constitution’s 388 articles, Chile is described as “a social and democratic State of law,” as well as “plurinational, intercultural and ecological.”

As well as recognizing the different peoples that make up the Chilean nation, the new constitution accords a certain amount of autonomy to Indigenous institutions, notably in matters of justice.

The right to elective abortion would become enshrined in law. It is today permitted only if there is a risk to the life of the pregnant woman, in cases of fetal non-viability and rape.

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International

Iran issues threat to Trump as conflict escalates over Strait of Hormuz

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, threatened U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, warning him to “beware of being eliminated.”

The Republican president had warned on Monday that he would strike Iran “very hard” if the Islamic Republic blocked oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed since the war began eleven days ago.

“Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Others more powerful than you tried to destroy the Iranian nation and failed. Beware that you are not eliminated,” Larijani wrote on X.

Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — the ideological military force of the Islamic Republic — also said their forces would move to block oil exports from the Gulf.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military offensive against Iran is far from over.

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“Our aspiration is that the Iranian people free themselves from the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, that depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the measures taken so far we are breaking their bones, and we are not finished yet,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

International

Driver detained after suspicious vehicle incident near the White House

The driver was detained and no injuries were reported after an incident that occurred before dawn in Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.

The U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for presidential security, said in a statement that it was “investigating a suspicious vehicle.” The driver of the car was taken into custody and is currently being questioned.

Washington remains under heightened security measures amid the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran.

Police closed several major streets around the White House. However, by about 8:30 a.m. local time (12:30 GMT), government employees and staff from nearby institutions were allowed to pass through the area with proper identification, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Dozens of emergency vehicles with flashing lights responded to the location, while tourists and residents waited for authorities to reopen the streets.

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International

Trump Raises Possibility of “Friendly Takeover” of Cuba Amid Deepening Crisis

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, reiterated Monday the possibility that Washington could pursue a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, amid the severe crisis facing the island following the oil blockade promoted by the U.S. government.

Speaking at a press conference in Miami, the president said that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently “negotiating” with representatives of the Cuban government, although authorities in Havana have repeatedly denied that such talks are taking place.

Trump suggested that Washington could play a more direct role in the island’s future.

“It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they’re really down to, as they say, fumes. They have no energy, they have no money. They are in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis, and we really don’t want to see that,” the U.S. president said.

The president also argued that the Cuban government had long depended heavily on support from Venezuela, particularly oil supplies.

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According to Trump, that support has been drastically reduced following measures adopted by Washington.

“They were living off Venezuela. Venezuela doesn’t send them energy, fuel, oil, money, or anything anymore. They couldn’t survive without Venezuela, they couldn’t have made it, and we cut everything off,” Trump said.