The Araucanian Indians were the original inhabitants of Chile. The Spanish conquered the country in the 16th century and ruled until the country’s independence in 1818 following a war led by Bernard O’Higgins and Jose de San Martín. As a result of the War of the Pacific (1879-1883), Chile gained Tarapacá, Tacna and Arica from Bolivia, and took control of the Atacama. Border disputes between Chile and Bolivia have been a recurrent element in Chile’s history ever since. In 1891, civil war broke out and a parliamentary principle of government was established.
Elections in 1970
brought
Unidad Popular, led by the Marxist Dr Salvador Allende, to power. A military coup followed, during which Allende committed suicide rather than surrender to his attackers. General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was declared Supreme Chief of State and President, and remained in power despite considerable opposition from many sectors of society. The ruling military junta assumed wide-ranging powers, its main aim being to eliminate the Communist Party and other leftist opposition. During the ‘state of siege’, political opponents were imprisoned (and many of them ‘disappeared’), censorship was systematic and all non-government political activity banned. These powers were gradually relaxed during the 1980s until the Government felt that the Marxist menace was no longer a threat to the country and arranged a gradual return to representative government. Patricio Aylwin, leader of the
Concertación de los Partidos de la Democracia (CPD), a 17-party coalition in which the Christian Democrats (PCD, usually classified as center-left, in contrast with European practice) were the largest component, stood against the General and won in the presidential elections of December 1989.
Although Pinochet’s days as dictator were over, the powers of the civilian government were severely circumscribed in certain areas - notably defense policy and investigations of previous human rights abuses. In 1998, Pinochet officially retired, although he retained lifetime membership of the Chilean Senate and consequent immunity from prosecution. Because of his high standing among parts of Chilean society (especially the military), successive governments have been wary of Pinochet – despite his age, infirmity, and attempts by several foreign governments to prosecute him (notably the Spanish).
The December 1993 election brought another comfortable victory for the
Concertación candidate, Eduardo Frei, who had succeeded Aylwin. In January 2000, a member of the socialist bloc in
Concertación, Ricardo Lagos, fought a close, but ultimately victorious campaign, against Joaquin Lavin, standing for the right-wing
Unión Democrata Independiente.
Concertación has now won each of the three post-dictatorship elections.
Abroad, relations between Chile and its neighbors - including Argentina - have been improving, principally as a result of the development of the southern cone trading bloc,
Mercosur. However, the Chileans are deeply concerned by the possible knock-on effects of the political and economic crisis that overtook Argentina in 2001 and 2002.
Presidential elections are due to be held in December 2005.
GovernmentExecutive power is held by the President as head of the Government, elected for a 6-year term. The bicameral Congress is responsible for legislation and comprises a 48-member Senate and a 120-member Chamber of Deputies, both elected by universal suffrage.
EconomyWith well-developed industrial and service sectors, Chile has one of Latin America's strongest economies. However, it still depends on export of primary commodities (metals and ores, fruit, fish and wood) for a large proportion of its export earnings. With commodity prices dropping recently, harsher times look likely for the Chilean economy, in line with the straitened financial times across the world.
However, Chile's industrial base has grown substantially over the last decade and includes steel manufacturing, oil production, ship building, and the production of cement and consumer goods. The mainstay of the export economy is still metals and ores: Chile is the world's leading exporter of copper and also produces zinc, iron ore, molybdenum, manganese, iodine and lithium.
The service sector has developed rapidly, especially financial services. Chile's economic performance has been strong since 2000, although annual growth had dipped slightly in 2008 to 4.1% with a further drop expected in 2009; unemployment was estimated at 7% in late 2007.
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