Chile set to start constitution reform process

A constitution reform was approved in Chile on Wednesday by the country's National Congress. The reformed constitution aims to replace the one imposed by General Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship four decades ago.

The new text will be submitted for a referendum. The deputies' chamber approved the initiative with 109 votes for it, 37 against, and two abstentions, while senators had already approved it the previous week. The so-called Agreement for Chile that opened the doors for a new constitution was part of a three-month negotiation between fourteen political parties. The first attempt to have a new constitution failed when in September 2022, the electorate rejected the new text with 62% of the votes.