Page 6 - MONTT LATIN AMERICAN MAGAZINE, OCTUBRE 2021 (English)

Chile, a Grim Outlook
Harsh criticism received the political evolution of the country by one of the most prestigious media in the world, The Economist magazine, which expressed that Chile “is in worse shape than before”, due to the way the Constituent Convention operates and the polarization between two presidential candidates, Jose Antonio Kast and Gabriel Boric. Another important event was the meteoric rise of the ultra-conservative candidate, capable of channeling the anger and discomfort of the middle class in the face of protests and vandalism from the left.
“Chile used to be one of the success stories of Latin America; a new Constitution was expected to make it possible for discontent to be channeled into responses better than populism and anarchy. But two years later, as that experiment gets underway, Chile appears to be in worse shape than at any time in three decades. Liberals are alarmed by the direction the Constitutional Convention is taking, full of political novices. In its regulations, the assembly imposes sanctions for ‘denial or omission’ of human rights violations committed by the dictatorship and by the state in the context of the 2019 uprising. A group led by the Communist Party is trying to circumvent the rules that imply that each part of the document is approved by a majority of 2/3. In fact, the leftists have the most influence in the assembly. All of this will affect the economy. Stronger
environmental regulations –almost certainly included in the new Constitution - could make it difficult to export copper, on which the economy depends. “
This is indicated by marked paragraphs of an article published in its latest edition by the British magazine The Economist, entitled “Chile, Once Considered the Finland of Latin America, Is in Trouble.” The publication concludes, recalling the attack in Plaza Baquedano against the constituent Giovanna Grandon (known as “Aunt Pikachu”): “In the meantime, the violence is likely to continue. She was harassed by an angry mob, who threw stones at her and called her sold. Chile’s most ambitious politicians have often compared the country to Finland. But the events of the past weeks and years suggest that the country actually looks more like one of its dysfunctional neighbours.“
There is no doubt that the international media is beginning to echo the fall in the image of the Convention, due to the fact that several constituents appear very concerned about the allocation of resources, vetoes to conventional, delay in debates as a result of polarization and defend the deception of Rojas Vade; in other words, they are adopting a series of practices typical of traditional politics, which the public expected the Convention to leave behind. The Economist adds an alert for the economic effects, just when growth projections for 2022 are going down, and a brake on investment is in sight. At the beginning of the year, this same magazine referred to what was expected of the Convention: “If it is done well, Chile will once again be a model for the Region,” pointed out the article, something that is far from happening.