Chile is a multi-party democracy located in South America. In 2015, the country was governed by President Michelle Bachelet, who had been in power since 2014 and is the leader of the New Majority (NM) party. During her time in office, President Bachelet has been credited with providing economic security and political stability to Chile after years of unrest. See ehealthfacts for Chile in the year of 2005.
In 2015, Chile held presidential elections in which President Bachelet won a majority of votes and was re-elected for a second term. This victory was attributed to her successful economic policies such as reducing poverty levels, encouraging foreign investment, and providing basic services such as healthcare and education to its citizens. The NM party also benefited from its strong national security policies which have helped to maintain peace and stability throughout Chile.
Despite its successes, President Bachelet’s government has been criticized for its lack of commitment to human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. Additionally, corruption remains a major issue in Chile with high-level officials frequently accused of abusing their power for personal gain. Despite these challenges, President Bachelet’s government remains committed to furthering economic development and maintaining political stability throughout the country.
Yearbook 2015
Chile. According to COUNTRYAAH, Santiago is the capital of Chile which is located in South America. President Michelle Bachelet was hired during the year by accusations of corruption within the government, opposition to its tax and education reforms and a limiting economy. Her proposal to reform the 35-year-old constitution, created by dictator Augusto Pinochet, also met with opposition from the right. Under the pressure of criticism of the tax reform, which aimed to raise the state’s income for investments in health and education, Bachelet eventually took a more flexible position.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Chile country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
Education Minister Nicolás Eyzaguirre was also replaced at the end of June following a wave of student protests and teacher strikes, but Bachelet reiterated that her long-term plan to introduce free education up to the university level, which was also the target of the major student demonstrations in 2011, was firm. However, her election promise of 5% economic growth during the term of office seemed increasingly impossible to fulfill. Industrial production fell and unemployment rose.
Both the ultra-conservative Independent Democratic Union (UDI) leader, Ernesto Silva, and deputy party chairman Iván Moreira resigned in early March after accusations of having funded the party’s 2013 election campaign through illegal transfers from the investment bank Penta. The scandal, commonly known as Pentagate, prompted President Bachelet to form a special advisory body on corruption cases. Later, the head of the Tax Institute (SII) also resigned for not cooperating enough with the state prosecutor investigating the Pentagate scandal.
On September 11, 2001, a Washington DC court opened a lawsuit against former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for his participation in the plan that culminated in the assassination of Chilean Army commander René Schneider in 1970. The case had been brought by Schneider family members and was based on the contradictions between the CIA’s reports on the case and Kissinger’s statements. At the same time, the Supreme Court of Chile granted Judge Guzmán permission to interrogate Kissinger on the charge of the murder of North American journalist Charles Horman.
Despite President Lagos’ election promise to introduce the right to divorce, this was hampered by fierce opposition from the Catholic Church. Chile is therefore still one of the only countries without this right.
Twenty-five members of the United States Congress on February 21, 2002, asked federal prosecutor Roscoe Howard to sue Pinochet for terrorism because of his supposed responsibility for the assassination of Chile’s former Secretary of State Orlando Letelier in Washington in 1975.
In December, Chile signed a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States, becoming South America’s first country to enter into such an agreement. It was therefore criticized from many sides for not holding on to the multilateral negotiations between Latin America and the United States.
The same month, a judge ordered former Public Works Minister Carlos Cruz arrested along with 2 other senior officials for bribing. Cruz had for a long time been closely associated with President Lagos. At the same time, five MPs were already charged with corruption. The prosecutors made serious cuts to the country’s self-perception as Latin America’s least corrupt country.
In August-October, the Senates in Chile and the United States drafted a Free Trade Agreement under the framework of NAFTA, which came into force on January 1, 2004. The United States admitted that the treaty was part of the Bush government’s policy of putting pressure on Brazil to bring the continent’s regional superpower to join NAFTA. Only a few weeks earlier at a WTO meeting in Cancun, the G-22 countries – which also include Chile – had opposed a demand from the rich industrial countries for greater openness and guarantees of foreign capital, when the industrialized countries would not simultaneously give greater openness to agricultural products. from the south.
Accession to NAFTA abolished 85% of Chile’s exports to the United States, while the remaining goods were gradually eliminated in the period up to 2014. The trade agreement particularly affected small and medium-sized agricultural producers, indigenous peoples and cultural groups. It is believed that the public service in health and education will be subject to stronger demands for privatization, as they have previously been funded by customs revenue.