Voters reject proposed new constitution in Chile
Chilean voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to adopt a new, left-leaning constitution to replace the one imposed by the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago, The Washington Post and NPR report.
The old constitution is one of the most market-friendly in the world. The referendum proposed a new one intended to be more egalitarian, establishing universal health care, abortion rights, and dozens of other constitutional and Indigenous rights. Critics said the changes were too drastic.
With 92 percent of the ballots tallied on Sunday night, 62 percent had voted against the new constitution, according to Chile's electoral authority. The referendum was held to fulfill a promise to working- and middle-class Chileans who protested high prices and low wages in 2019.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
A Man on the Inside: Netflix comedy leaves you with a 'warm fuzzy feeling'
The Week Recommends Charming series has a 'tenderness' that will 'sneak up' on you
By The Week UK Published
-
Bread & Roses: an 'extraordinarily courageous' documentary
The Week Recommends Sahra Mani's 'powerful' film examines the lives of three Afghan women under the Taliban
By The Week UK Published
-
V13: a 'marvelous and terrifying' account of the Bataclan terror trials
The Week Recommends Emmanuel Carrère's work is 'absolutely gripping'
By The Week UK Published
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published