• Chile, Constituent works for a new charter that will replace that of the Pinochet era

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04 July 2021

The inaugural session of the Constitutional Convention of Chile was temporarily suspended after a group of constituents, activists in the social protests of 2019, interrupted the ceremony accusing the police of "repression" after the clashes outside the former Congress of Santiago.

"We want a party of democracy and not a problem, we will suspend the session for short minutes", said the rapporteur of the Electoral Qualification Tribunal (Tricel), Carmen Gloria Valladares.

A group of 155 constituents - who must take the oath on the historic day for this country - took to the streets to demand that the special forces withdraw from that area in the center of the capital.

At the beginning of the ceremony, during the national anthem, a sort of show of strength began between the shouts and shouts of some constituents: "Enough with the repression!", So they approached the table where Valladares had to make them swear.

In such a tense atmosphere she was forced to temporarily suspend the ceremony.

The day began with thousands of people in the streets peacefully celebrating this milestone in various points in the center of the capital in a country trying to overcome a Constitution drawn up by a small commission during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and approved in 1980 with a dubious procedure.

The Magna Carta has been reformed in the last 30 years of democracy, but it is still considered the basis of social inequalities.