“We, the people of Chile, comprised of diverse nations, freely grant this constitution, agreed to in a participatory and democratic process with parity of representation.” This is the short Preamble of the…
Author: David Joslyn
David Joslyn, after a 45-year career in international development with USAID, Peace Corps, The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and private sector consulting firms, divides his time between his homes in Virginia and Chile. Since 2010, David has been writing about Chile and Chileans, often based upon his experience with the Peace Corps in Chile and his many travels throughout the country with family and friends.
A New Constitution For Chile
Let’s remember a ways back; back before Chileans elected a new congress, and before they elected a new President (35 year old Gabriel Boric), all to take charge on March 11, 2022….
A Generational Refresh in Chile
President-elect Gabriel Boric has presented Chileans with a cabinet that, at least photographically, depicts the change he is proposing for Chile. <image here> Patricio Aylwin Cabinet 1990. Boric’s cabinet is meant to…
Chile; now, where were we?
A couple of days after arriving in Chile, I was stuck standing in line at the VTR office in Santiago, attempting to procure a new mobile phone. To my surprise, a big…
The Plebiscite; Chile’s Go-To Therapy
On Sunday, October 25, 2020, over seven million Chileans participated in a plebiscite that decisively launched a process to rewrite Chile’s Constitution. About 75% of them favored the constitutional rewrite, and to…
The Soul of Chile
I started this article several weeks ago with good intentions to provide the best personal description and interpretation I could of the social explosion that was affecting Chile; I entitled it “The…
June 6, 1970
As I recall, albeit through the haze of an all night bachelor’s outing with several friends, Saturday, June 6, 1970, was a lovely, clear, crisp day. But mostly, it defined the future:…
Eduardo Frei Montalva
In 1982, almost ten years into the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, ex President of Chile Eduardo Frei Montalva died during a series of surgical interventions in the Santa Maria Clinic…
“Por la Razon, o la Fuerza”
This motto on Chile’s national emblem, adopted in 1834, would suggest that the “Chilean way” is to try to reason through a conflict, and only as a last resort use force to…
Transition in Chile
Three weeks of massive civil protests, some peaceful, others violent, have left parts of Chile, especially its capital city Santiago, looking like a war zone. Chileans too often have faced costly and…