Referendum on a new constitution: Chile will decide this Sunday whether it will abandon the dubious neoliberal model it pioneered. [VIDEO]

New project Constitution put to a vote this Sunday in Chile directs the country to put a tombstone to the neoliberal economic system imposed by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) to lay the foundations of a social rights model.

Constitution The current option, which voters will decide this Sunday if they “approve” or “reject”, replacing it with a new text, was the first to establish a neo-liberal economic system, and after returning to democracy in 1990, he introduced several reforms to add more regulations. However, key areas such as healthcare, education and pensions remained in private hands.

The new proposal guarantees the social rights demanded for years on the streets of the city. Chile but it contains modifications the extent of which is deeply divisive among economists.

It aims to “continue to deepen the transition to a welfare state, although there have been many changes over the years of the return to democracy that basically pointed to this,” said Cristian Echeverria, director of the Center for Research in Economics and Business Development. University.

“We are looking for a text that unites us, asserting what the developed countries did a long time ago, namely a constitutional state of rights,” Nicolas Eizaguirre, a former minister for centre-left governments and a former director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in statements to Radio Cooperativa.

Original version Constitution drafted during the dictatorship in 1980, it did not set banking or business rules; it contained low tax rates and little regulation of environmental protection or free competition.

Previous polls, which were vetoed two weeks before the election, point to the advantage of the rejection option.

social condition of a person

The proposal, prepared for the year by the constitutional assembly, establishes a “welfare state of law” with a public and universal health and education system and an end to private pension fund managers.

The new text restores the current right to strike, decentralizes the state, and establishes the payment of a “fair price” for expropriation. It retains the autonomy of the Central Bank and ends with ownership of water delivered indefinitely. Constitution valid.

In the mining industry, the nationalization of large deposits of copper, the metal of which Chile it is its main global producer, accounting for almost a third of the world’s supply. The country is also a major player in lithium mining.

“From an economic point of view, there is no exoset (rocket) or something that destroys it, but there are several things that destroy it,” — New York University economist. ChileJoseph Ramos.

“This is a bad suggestion. There is nothing in it that could improve performance. The emphasis is almost exclusively on social issues, not economic ones,” he adds.

reforms

The text supports a free market economy, but, in addition to the social aspect, pays more attention to protecting the environment.

“BUT Constitution concern for the environment is likely to force us to have a less extractive economy, which means developing other areas and investing in science and technology,” feminist lawyer Gloria Myra told AFP, criticizing today’s heavy dependence on mining.

The new proposal runs in parallel with a series of reforms being promoted by the government of left-wing Gabriel Boric, who took office last March, succeeding conservative Sebastian Piñer (2018-2022).

Boric, who has calmed the situation by appointing former Central Bank President Mario Marseille to the Treasury, is pushing for a new mining fee and reform of the private pension system, which currently provides most pensions below the $420 minimum wage.

To finance the reforms, Boric has proposed a tax adjustment aimed at raising nearly 4% of GDP as the Chilean economy enters a slowdown and faces high inflation (13% per year).

“In tax reform, we are committed to being able to collect more, thinking long term, in order to build a state that guarantees universal social rights that will allow us to create a more cohesive country, where the place where you are born does not determine, so the place is important, where you will die,” Boric said Tuesday evening, speaking to mining businessmen.

If the new one is approved ConstitutionCongress – divided today by almost 50% of the political forces into right and left, must pass laws that will allow the realization of new social rights.

“Poetry gets confused with reality. These social rights will be a big disappointment because there are clearly no resources for it,” warns Joseph Ramos.

(According to AFP)

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