1.
Chile
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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
2.
Politics of Chile
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Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Congress, the Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature of Chile. The Constitution of Chile was approved in a plebiscite in September 1980. It entered into force in March 1981, in September 2005, President Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. Chiles congressional elections are governed by a unique voting system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can present two candidates for the two Senate and two seats apportioned to each chambers electoral districts. Typically, the two largest coalitions split the seats in a district, only if the leading coalition ticket outpolls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats. The political parties with the largest representation in the current Chilean Congress are the centrist Christian Democrat Party, the Communist Party and the small Humanist Party failed to gain any seats in the 1998 elections. Elections are very labor-intensive but efficient, and vote counting normally takes place the evening of the election day, one voting table, with a ballot-box each, is set up for at-most 200 names in the voting registry. Each table is manned by five people from the same registry, vocales have the duty to work as such during a cycle of elections, and can be penalized legally if they do not show up. A registered citizen can only vote after his identity has been verified at the corresponding to his registry. The Senate is made up of 38 members elected from regions or subregions, the Chamber of Deputies has 120 members, who are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The last congressional elections were held on December 11,2006, the next congressional elections are scheduled for December 2009. Since 1987, the Congress operates in the city of Valparaíso, about 110 kilometers northwest of the capital. However some commissions are allowed to meet in other places, especially Santiago, congressional members have tried repeatedly to relocate the Congress back to Santiago, where it operated until the Chilean Coup of 1973, but have not been successful. Chiles legal system is civil law based and it is primarily based on the Civil code of 1855, derived from Spanish law and subsequent codes influenced by European law of the last half of the 19th Century. It does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
3.
President of Chile
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The President of the Republic of Chile is the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible for government and state administration. It is also considered as one of the institutions that make up the Historic Constitution of Chile, under the current Constitution, the President is elected to serve for a period of four years, with immediate re-election being prohibited. The shorter period allows for parliamentary and presidential elections to be synchronized, the official seat of the President of Chile is the La Moneda Palace in the capital Santiago. The Constitution of 1980 and its amendments, establishes the requirements for becoming President. Originally the President must be a citizen of the country. The President must also be at least 35 years old, in addition, all the requirements for becoming a Senator apply. The president must meet all the requirements to qualify as a fully Chilean citizen with the right to vote and those are who have reached the age of eighteen years and who have never been sentenced to afflicting punishment. The loss of the right to vote is the main disqualification for the applicant, in the 2005 constitutional reform, some of these requirements were changed, The President now must have the Chilean nationality. The President must also be at least 35 years old, article 26 detail the electoral requirements. The President shall be elected by ballot, with an absolute majority of the votes validly cast. In order to win the election in the first round, the candidates party must receive more than 50 percent of the valid votes leaving out of the count blank. The election shall be held the third Sunday of November of the year immediately before the end of the administration of the President then holding office. Should there be more than two candidates in the election, none of them obtaining more than half of the votes validly cast. The second election, in the manner determined by law, shall be held the fourth Sunday after the first election, then, the candidate with the majority of valid votes in that round is elected president. Under the 1828 constitution, the President served for four years, in 1833, the presidential period was changed to five years, with a possibility of immediate reelection for one more term, limited to two consecutive terms. Then by a reform in 1878, possibility for reelection became disallowed. Under the 1925 constitution, the President served for a six-year term, in the original text of the 1980 constitution, the President served for an eight-year term without the possibility of immediate reelection
4.
National Congress of Chile
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The National Congress of Chile is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile. The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4,1811 and it is a bicameral legislature comprised by the Chamber of Deputies, of 120 Deputies and by the Senate, formed by 38 Senators. The organisation of Congress and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of the current constitution and by the Constitutional Organic Law No.18,918. Congress meets in the Chile Congress building, which was built during the last years of the Pinochet regime and stands in the city of Valparaíso, some 140 km west of the capital. This new building replaced the Former National Congress Building, located in downtown Santiago, on 13 September 1973, the Government Junta of Chile dissolved Congress. Chamber of Deputies of Chile Senate of Chile Politics of Chile List of legislatures by country Cámara de Diputados Senado
5.
Senate of Chile
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The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chiles bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of thirty-eight directly elected senators and these serve eight-year terms, with half of them being replaced every fourth year. They must be eligible to vote, have completed school, or its equivalent. The Senate sessions at the new National Congress located in the city of Valparaíso that replaced the old National Congress located in downtown Santiago. Previously, according to the Constitution of 1980, designated or institutional senators were appointed to the chamber, two former heads of state, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Augusto Pinochet, were installed as senators for life. Pinochet later resigned from position and Frei lost his seat in the 2005 reform. However, Frei remained in the Senate by winning an elective seat, the Senate of Chile was created in 1812 to support the formulations of policies of the Government Junta. Since then it has undergone several constitutional reorganizations that have altered the scope of its powers, its composition. Created by Article 7 of the Provisional Constitutional Manual of 1812 and it was composed of seven titular members and three alternate members and was supposed to serve as a counterbalance to the executive power of the Government Junta. The senators were nominated by the provinces in agreement with the central government. It functioned from November,1812 to January,1814, when it was reorganized to better respond to the problems caused by the military defeats at the hands of the advancing Spanish Army. Created by Article 13 of the Provisional Government Manual of 1814, as its predecessor, it was composed of seven titular members nominated by the provinces in lists of three from which they were selected by the Supreme Director. It functioned from March to July,1814, when the Spanish Army captured Santiago, created by Title III of the Constitution of 1818. It was composed of five members and five alternate members selected directly by the Supreme Director. Key to Senate classes by regions, Class 1 consists of, Class 2 consists of, -the 20 current senators whose seats expire in March 2022
6.
Chamber of Deputies of Chile
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The Honourable Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile is the lower house of Chiles bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chiles current constitution and it comprises 120 members called honorable deputies, who are elected to four-year terms, by direct universal suffrage, from 60 two-member electoral districts. Chiles congressional elections are governed by a binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for electoral districts two Chamber seats. Typically, the two largest coalitions in a district divide the seats, one each, among themselves, only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than two-to-one does the winning coalition gain both seats. The Chamber of Deputies meets in Chiles National Congress located in the city of Valparaíso, some 120 km west of the capital. The Congress building in Valparaíso replaced the old National Congress, located in downtown Santiago, ^ Elected as Nueva Mayoría independent. ^ Elected as RN, but quit the party in January 2014, List of Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile National Congress of Chile Senate of Chile List of legislatures by country Official website
7.
Supreme Court of Chile
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The Supreme Court of Chile is the highest court in Chile. It also administrates the lower courts in the nation and it is located in the capital Santiago. In the Chilean system, the court lacks the power of judicial review — it cannot set binding precedent or invalidate laws. Instead, it acts on a case-by-case basis, trials are carried out in salas, chambers of at least five judges, presided over by the most senior member. The members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President from a list of five choices prepared by the members of the court. Two of the choices must be senior judges from appellate courts, the presidents choice must then be ratified by a two-thirds majority of the Senate. Supreme Court justices must be at least 36 years old, once appointed, a Chilean Supreme Court justice is entitled to remain on the Court until the compulsory retirement age of 75. The only exception is if a justice can be removed by notorious abandonment of duty, the Supreme Court has twenty-one members, called ministros. One member is selected to serve a term as President of the Supreme Court. The composition of the Supreme Court changes relatively quickly, as judges attain the retirement age of 75 and this list was last updated on 22 January 2016. The Chilean Supreme Court has been involved in many important human rights regarding the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. In July 2002, it dismissed a case against Pinochet, saying that he was unfit to stand due to dementia. In August 2004, it confirmed a lower courts decision that Pinochet should lose his automatic immunity he acquired from being a former senator, in March 2005, it reversed a lower courts decision stripping Pinochet of immunity in the case of the assassination of Carlos Prats. In August 2007, it upheld a sentence for Hugo Salas Wenzel. The Chilean Supreme Court has made decisions in the area of gay rights. In 2004, it confirmed a lower courts decision that stripped former judge Karen Atala of custody of her three daughters because she is a lesbian, in 2012, the case was overturned by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In January 2004, it removed judge Daniel Calvo from his position on the Santiago Court of Appeals, in November 2005, the Chilean Supreme Court ruled that the sale of contraceptive morning-after pill Postinor 2 is constitutional. On September 21,2007, the court accepted Perus request to extradite former president Alberto Fujimori, on human rights and corruption charges
