Real Estate in Chile
A Free Guide to Buying Chilean Homes and Land
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Oct. 7, 2006:
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Chile Politics
About the Chilean Government
And the Economy of Chile
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For our purposes, however, we will discuss modern-day Chile, which - by South American standards - has a strong economy with a stable political system free of the pervasive corruption found in many developing countries.
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A Female President Chile is a republic, currently led by President Michelle Bachelet Jeriaat at the time of writing (October, 2006). She was elected in March, 2006 and received 53.5% of the vote. The runner-up was Sebastian Pinera Echenique with 46.5% of the vote. |
The Legislative Branch
The bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate
or Senado (38 seats elected by popular vote; members serve eight-year terms
- one-half elected every four years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara
de Diputados (120 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year
terms)
Elections in Chile
Elections for the Senate we last last held in December, 2005 (next to be
held December 2009); Chamber of Deputies - last held in December, 2005 (next
to be held December 2009). The election results were: Senate - percent of
vote by party - NA; seats by party - CPD 20 (PDC 6, PS 8, PPD 3, PRSD 3),
APC 17 (UDI 9, RN 8), independent 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote
by party - NA; seats by party - CPD 65 (PDC 21, PPD 22, PS 15, PRSD 7),
APC 54 (UDI 34, RN 20), independent 1
The Judicial Branch
The judicial branch, similar to the US system, is the Supreme Court or Corte
Suprema. Judges are appointed by the President and ratified by the Senate
from lists of candidates provided by the court itself. The president of
the Supreme Court is elected every three years by the 20-member court.
Major Political Parties
Alliance for Chile ("Alianza") or APC (including
National Renewal or RN and Independent Democratic Union or UDI); Coalition
of Parties for Democracy ("Concertacion") or CPD (including
Christian Democratic Party or PDC, Socialist Party or PS, Party for Democracy
or PPD, Radical Social Democratic Party or PRSD); Communist Party
or PC.
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More Quick Facts About Chile's Government
- The capital is Santiago
- Chile achieved independence from Spain on September 18, 1810
- This date is also their national holiday
- Chile's constitution was created on September 11, 1980
- The constitution was amended in 1989, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2005
- All Chilean males between the ages of 18-45 are obligated to perform
military service consisting of 12 months for Army, or 24 months for Navy
/ Air Force.
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Chile's Presidential History
- 1973: Military coup overthrew Allende (See book on on left side of page).
- Military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over (see Pinochet book). Over 1,000 people were sentenced to death for treason during the first six months of Pinochet's rule.
- Late 1980s: Pinochet's regime gradually permitted greater freedoms.
- Chile moved away from economic statism toward a free market economy that saw an increase in domestic and foreign private investment.
- 1988: General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as President.
- Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin elected President, served from 1990 to 1994.
- Late 1993: Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle was elected.
- 2000: Frei Ruiz-Tagle was succeeded by Socialist Ricardo Lagos.
- 2006: First woman president, Michelle Bachelet Jeria of the Socialist Party, elected.
