Apart from vastly increasing the executive’s power, the proposed reform would have enshrined ideological assumptions around gender and sexuality and the green energy transition. In the end, 62% of Chilean voters voted against it.
The Latin American country is preparing to vote on the leftist government’s proposed constitution this August, which would streamline legislative processes in a manner similar to Hugo Chavez’s reforms of the Venezuelan state.
Already before Boric takes office in March next year, there are troubling signs that he may lead his country far and fast down the same road that Venezuela took under Hugo Chavez.
Boric was a leader in the student protests in 2011 before entering politics. He unexpectedly became a presidential candidate when he beat the communist party candidate, Daniel Jadue in primaries last May. During the campaign before the second elections, he moderated his radical image—though Boric has denied being a communist.
