Chile

Ginny Jones and Trish Kilgannon

Background Info• Current population: 16,601,707• Ethnicity: white and white-Amerindian

95.4%, Mapuche 4%, other indigenous groups 0.6%

• Religions: Roman Catholic 70%, Evangelical 15.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.1%, other Christian 1%, other 4.6%, none 8.3%

• Official Language: Spanish• Government Today: Republic• Capital: Santiago

Going Back… • Before 16th century: under Inca rule

in the north and Mapuche rule in central and south Chile

• Spanish army invaded Santiago in 1541 and established control

• Chile declared its independence in 1810

• After 7 years of warfare Chile defeated Spain and ended Spanish control (1817)

Since Independence

…

POLITICAL• Unstable and continually changing• Independence brought a system of representative

democracy

• 1970: Salvador Allende was elected President• Established a Marxist government• Reforms helped the economy

• 1973: overthrown by a military coup, led by Augusto Pinochet

• U.S. CIA assisted• Undid all of Allende’s reforms• Brutally oppressed citizens• Got rid of constitution and congress

Military Coup• http://video.google.com/videoplay?do

cid=3091094076615820821&ei=6iJKS6bMKpHurgLDz4mmAQ&q=chile+history&hl=en&client=firefox-a#

POLITICAL continued

• 1990: Chileans voted to end Pinochet’s term and democratic Patricio Aylwin was freely elected president

• 1993: Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle was elected• Continued expanding civilian-controlled

politics in Chile

• Today: stable, democratic nation• President Michelle Bachelet

ECONOMIC• Fluctuating economy• 1970: Under Allende– Helpful reforms• Nationalized major industries and banks

– Copper Industry» Major source of income

• Implemented price controls• Redistributed wages• Tax reforms

– Increased industrial output – Decreased unemployment rates

ECONOMIC continued

• 1973: Under Pinochet– Economy weakened due to inflation

after the coup

– Undid all of Allende’s reforms

– Later, decreased inflation

–Moved towards a free market economy

– Economy hurt by falling copper prices due to a world-wide recession

ECONOMIC continued

• Today–Market-oriented economy – Strong financial institutions – Globally connected• High level of foreign trade • 57 trade agreements

– Large copper industry• Provides one-third of government revenue• Stores away surpluses for times of need

Chile’s Economy Today

• http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/10/13/chile-squirrels-away-copper-fortunes-and-spends-prudently/7756/

SOCIAL• 1970: Under Allende–Marxist social reforms

• 1973: Under Pinochet– Suppressed citizens• Limited civil liberties

– Protests against Pinochet– He imprisoned, tortured and killed

thousands of Chileans

Social continued

• 1990 to Today– People gained more rights– 2004: law passed allowing divorce– Current President Michelle Bachelet

promises an increase in social spending–May 2008: 700,000 students organized a

national boycott demanding educational reform• Government agreed to address their

concerns

Review• Declared independence in 1810

• Political– Unstable– 1970: Allende came to power– 1973: Overthrown by military, led by

Pinochet– 1990: Freely elected president

Review continued

• Economic– Allende’s reforms helped economy– Reforms un-done by Pinochet–More reforms after Pinochet– Large copper industry

Review continued

• Social–Marxist reforms under Allende– Pinochet restricted people’s rights and

was brutal towards them– After Pinochet, people got more rights

and government appears to care about their concerns

Chile Today• Political– Stable government under President Michelle

Bachelet

• Economic– Strong economy with important copper industry

• Social– President Bachelet plans to increase social spending

and address demands for education reform

Sources• https://www.cia.gov/library/publicatio

ns/the-world-factbook/geos/ci.html• http://www.geographia.com/chile/chil

ehistory.htm• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107

407.html?pageno=1• http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/HI

STOR~5.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile