Chile Gives Indigeneous People A Set At The Table

 

CHILE

A Seat At The Table

Chilean lawmakers approved a bill this week to reserve 17 out of 155 seats for representatives of its Indigenous communities in its upcoming constitutional convention, a move many say has been a long time coming, Reuters reported.

In October, Chileans voted overwhelmingly in favor of rewriting the country’s dictatorship-era constitution to include more equality in health, pensions and education following mass protests over inequality in late 2019.

The convention will be elected in April and will have up to a year to approve a draft text. Chileans will then vote on whether they accept the text or want to go back to the previous charter.

Chile’s 2017 census reported that about 13 percent of the country’s 17 million population identified as Indigenous.

Social Development Minister Karla Rubilar hailed the move as a “historical milestone in recognition of Indigenous peoples, and for taking another step toward repaying our historical debt (to them).”