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Latin America | Chile | Education

Free High Education in Chile to go into Effect in 2016: it ‘a Right, Not A Gift’ Declares Bachelet

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Chilean president Michelle Bachelet said that free higher education in Chile is "a right, and not a gift." This will go into effect in 2016 after more than three decades of students having to pay for their tuition in order to pursue higher education. The President of Chile said in an official statement on Monday that the country has always viewed the pursuit of higher education as a right, and the administration believes in strongly moving ahead with granting the right of free education. Fox News Latino reports that this year, around 165,000 students will be enjoying the new measure. Ba
Latin America | Chile | Economy

Damage control in Chile

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Chile has been badly hit by the end of the commodities boom. But it has also gone further than most of its neighbours in adjusting to a harsher world. The peso has depreciated by around 45% since January 2013, helping to extinguish a big current-account deficit. Low debt and years of macroeconomic rigour mean the government has been able to run an expansionary fiscal policy while the Central Bank’s interest rate, despite an increase this month, is negative in real terms. For that, supporters of Michelle Bachelet, the Socialist president, blame the outside world. The price of copper, Chile
Latin America | Chile | Activism

Native Women Bring Solar Energy to Chile’s Atacama Desert

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Three indigenous communities from the Chilean highlands have just received solar panels, which will be set up and maintained by unlikely solar engineers: five native women who travelled halfway around the world to India and overcame language and other barriers to bring photovoltaic energy to their villages. Luisa and Liliana Terán are cousins from Caspana, an Atacameña indigenous community; Elena Achú and Elvira Urrelo are from the Quechua village of Ollagüe; and Nicolasa Yufla is an Aymara Indian from Toconce. The three villages, with a combined population of 1,000, are in the Atacama
Latin America | Chile | Corruption

No other Chilean president has had lower rating

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Reducing the national hunger rate and opening three new public universities in the past few months hasn’t been enough to raise Chilean President Michelle Bachelet’s popularity from the nosedive it took earlier this year. Adimark, a private consulting firm, published its monthly presidential approval ratings report which says that less than 30 percent of citizens have faith in Bachelet. “After only 16 months in power, Bachelet has achieved the highest disapproval ratings ever registered in this series of presidential evaluations, established in 2006,” the report stated.
Latin America | Chile | Corruption

Three Issues Undermine Bachelet in Chile

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It remains to be seen how President Michelle Bachelet will weather the current discontent with her presidency, and whether she can effectively deal with the corruption that threatens her ability to govern. Chile’s Socialist president, Michelle Bachelet, was once one of the most popular leaders in Latin America, but a year into her second term in office her popularity has plummeted. One cannot engage in political discussion anywhere in Chile without hearing strong criticism of her government. According to the Santiago-based Center for Public Studies (CEP), by late April just 29% of respond
Latin America | Chile | Activism

Native Women Bring Solar Energy to Chile’s Atacama Desert

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Three indigenous communities from the Chilean highlands have just received solar panels, which will be set up and maintained by unlikely solar engineers: five native women who travelled halfway around the world to India and overcame language and other barriers to bring photovoltaic energy to their villages. Luisa and Liliana Terán are cousins from Caspana, an Atacameña indigenous community; Elena Achú and Elvira Urrelo are from the Quechua village of Ollagüe; and Nicolasa Yufla is an Aymara Indian from Toconce. The three villages, with a combined population of 1,000, are in the Atacama
Latin America | Chile | Leadership

Bachelet Ally Calls For More Government Transparency in Chile

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Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is under fire due to numerous political corruption scandals affecting the country. Chilean Senator Isabel Allende criticized President Michelle Bachelet for failing to engage in dialogue with members of civil society as well as calling for greater transparency within the Bachelet administration. “The people are taking to the streets because they feel it is the only way to be heard and this seems brutal to me. We have to find ways to create space where we can have conversations,” Allende stated Sunday during a televised interview. Allende went on
Latin America | Chile | Entrepreneurship

Start-Up Chile Launches Pre-Accelerator For Female Founders

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Start-Up Chile, the government-backed accelerator program that’s funded over a thousand international startups in the past four years, is launching The S Factory, a pre-accelerator for female founders. The 12-week program is designed to educate first-time women entrepreneurs with an intense course load that includes pitch training, an investor preparation lab, and progress reports from mentors. “This is not a gender equality program, this is a diversity program,” says Sebastian Vidal of Start-Up Chile.  
Latin America | Chile | Corruption

Bachelet’s Popularity in the Toilet after Corruption Crisis

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With corruption scandals dominating the news in Chile, President Michelle Bachelet’s approval ratings have sunk to a new low. The latest public-opinion poll released on Monday, June 1, by the consulting firm Cadem demonstrates the president’s popularity has dwindled to just 26 percent. The results represent a stark contrast to Bachelet’s approval rating of 52 percent when she took office in March 2014, then peaking at 56 percent a few months later. The president’s disapproval rating at the time was just 22 percent, but began climbing as the scandals piled on, reaching over 40 percent
Latin America | Chile | Economy

Striker Rights Roil Chile as Bachelet Tries Erasing Pinochet

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Chile is one of only four countries in the 34-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, including the U.S., that allows companies to replace striking workers, thanks to labor laws drawn up during the 1980s when dictator Augusto Pinochet was still in power. Thirty-five years later, President Michelle Bachelet says it’s time for Chile to repay an historic debt to workers and is backing a bill to ban the practice and boost the power of labor unions. The proposed draft has sparked controversy among businessmen, academics and some legislators, who question what “debt” s
Latin America | Chile | Politics

Chilean president names new cabinet in move to overcome scandals

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Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet has named a new cabinet, hoping the changes will arrest the fall in her popularity ratings and overcome scandals that have rocked her administration. Among key changes announced on Monday, Bachelet replaced her cabinet chief, Rodrigo Penailillo, who had been linked to a company investigated for corruption, with former the defence minister, Jorge Burgos. Banker Rodrigo Valdés was named the new finance minister, replacing Alberto Arenas. It is the first time since the return of democracy in 1990 that a president has replaced the finance minister mid-t
Latin America | Chile | Corruption

Chile waits as Michelle Bachelet considers new cabinet after scandal

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President’s approval ratings fell to 29% before she sacked her entire cabinet, in a move that may strengthen her authority as a no-nonsense leader After sacking her entire cabinet, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet kept the nation guessing on Friday as she considered a new lineup to steer the country out of one of the country’s most dramatic political crises since the 1973 military coup. Ensconcing herself in her hillside home in Santiago, the Socialist party leader has not yet uttered a word to the public about her intentions to deal with a series of corruption scandals that have
Latin America | Chile | Corruption

Chile Joins Other Latin American Nations Shaken by Scandal

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Best Quote: “It’s like we’ve realized this is a swamp, and everyone has one foot in the mud.” Pablo Collada, the director of Intelligent Citizen, an organization promoting transparency in politics. Scandals are shaking one government after another this year in Latin America: the mysterious death of a prosecutor in Argentina, the ouster of Peru’s prime minister over a domestic spying operation, the revelations of a vast bribery scheme at Brazil’s national oil company. Chile was long thought to be above such agitations, given its reputation as one of the region’s least corrupt
Latin America | Chile | Corruption

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet Faces More Challenges in Second Year

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Chilean President Michelle Bachelet starts her second year in office on Wednesday facing declining popularity, continuing resistance to her reform agenda, and more recently allegations of corruption within her family. Her approval rating has dropped to 31%, according to pollster Cadem. Pollster Adimark has her with 39% support, down from a high of 54% in March last year. Both firms say that recent revelations that a bank allegedly sped a loan to family members was a blow to her image. The Bachelet administration says that it plans to keep pushing through its agenda, including promoting f

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