Chile’s presidential election is a contest between extremes
Do voters worry more about crime and immigration, or about inequality and poor public services?
IN OCTOBER 2019 more than a million Chileans took to the streets to demand greater equality and better public services. At least 30 people died in protests that lasted for weeks. To restore calm, Chile’s leaders increased social spending and agreed to a process to rewrite the constitution adopted under Augusto Pinochet, a dictator who ruled from 1973 to 1990. Members of a constitutional convention elected in May this year, many of them leftists and political neophytes, have begun drafting a charter that could transform the country.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Pole positions”
From the November 20th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from The Americas
Can Brazil’s left survive without Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva?
Brazil’s current president, a titan of the Latin American left, has no apparent heirs
Donald Trump is targeting Mexico like no other country
The United States’ southern neighbour is bracing for a wave of deportees and trapped migrants
The race to lead Canada’s Liberal Party hinges on handling Trump
Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland are the front-runners
Canada has adopted assisted dying faster than anywhere on Earth
The province of Quebec now allows those with deteriorating illnesses to request an assisted death in advance
Tether’s move to El Salvador is a win for President Nayib Bukele
Why the stablecoin firm has picked the Central American country for its headquarters
From Greenland to Panama and Mexico, leaders are in shock
As Donald Trump eyes fine new pieces of real estate in the Americas and beyond