On September 4, 2022, Chileans decisively rejected a ballot initiative to fundamentally transform its 41-year-old constitution — created during the military government of Augusto Pinochet.
Had this initiative been approved, Chile’s constitution would have been modified along radically leftist lines.
62% of Chilean voters rejected this Constitution, while only 38% approved of the constitution. The constitution is 388 pages long
Gabriel Boric, Chile’s millennial president, was itching to use this referendum as a way to validate his leftist agenda that consisted of placing a particular emphasis on social issues and gender equality, while also establishing a parallel justice system for Indigenous territories and making environmentmental regulation a cornerstone of economic policy.
The last point is critical because Chile is the world’s largest copper producer. According to Statista, Chile produced 5.6 million metric tons of copper in 2021, making it the world’s leading copper producer. It’s also one of the world’s leading lithium producers.
The proposed constitution was a world first in how it was written by a convention divided equally between female and male delegates. According to a Fox News report, critics of this new constitution proposal believed “it was too long, lacked clarity, and went too far in some of its measures.”