Trade and finance

Chile’s principal markets for mining and agricultural commodities are the European Union, the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea. Most imports are from the United States, China, Brazil, Argentina, and Germany. The balance of payments, generally unfavourable since the 1950s because of increased foreign expenditures and payment of external loans, showed occasional improvement after 1976 but with considerable fluctuation. In the early 2000s Chile signed many free-trade agreements, including one with the United States that was implemented in 2004. Nontraditional exports (seafood, fruit, wine, wood products, foodstuffs) also contributed to economic growth in the early 21st century.

The peso is the national currency of Chile. The Central Bank of Chile, established in 1925, is the official bank of the country; it implements the internal banking policies of the government and also conducts foreign trade. In 1989 the bank became an autonomous institution entirely responsible for the country’s financial and exchange-rate policies. The State Bank of Chile is also a state entity, but it functions as a private commercial bank. National private banks as well as international banks from Europe, the United States, and Asia operate freely in the country.

Within the Chilean economic system there is collaboration between the private and public sectors, with the private sector contributing an increasing percentage of the total annual investment. Private businesses are generally organized as joint-stock companies (similar to U.S. corporations) that participate in all areas of economic activity.

Transportation

The country’s length and physical barriers constrain communication and traffic flow. Only the sea offers an expeditious means of transportation, which was taken advantage of during the 19th century when Chile owned one of the largest merchant fleets in Latin America. Chile’s overall economic decline during the early 20th century and the supplanting of maritime transport with overland means resulted in the reduction of the fleet. Eventually only international transport was conducted by ship. The main port of entry is Valparaíso. San Antonio, the port for Santiago, exports copper and agricultural commodities. Other ports, such as Antofagasta and Arica, serve the trade with Bolivia. Chañaral, Huasco, Guayacán, and Tocopilla export minerals. The port of Talcahuano serves the industrial complex of Concepción.

The development of an overland transportation system began with two railway systems initiated about the turn of the 20th century: the northern network, between La Calera (near Valparaíso) and Iquique, now in disuse, and the southern network, between La Calera and Puerto Montt. The most traveled sections connect Santiago with Valparaíso and Santiago with Puerto Montt; both sections are electrified, making them more competitive with road transportation. The railway system is controlled by the Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (State Railway Enterprise). International railroads connect Arica and La Paz (Bolivia), Antofagasta and Oruro (Bolivia), and Los Andes and Mendoza (Argentina). A railbus transports passengers over the short route between Arica and Tacna (Peru).

Chile’s rapid motorization has brought enhanced highway transportation for passengers and goods. The backbone of the Chilean road system is the paved Pan-American Highway, which connects Arica with Puerto Montt, near Chiloé Island, a distance of more than 2,100 miles. From this main artery secondary routes connect numerous cities, including Santiago, with the ports of San Antonio and Valparaíso, Bulnes with Concepción, and Los Lagos with Valdivia. The most important international paved road connects Santiago with Mendoza (Argentina). All-weather roads connect Iquique with Oruro (Bolivia), Antofagasta with Salta (Argentina), La Serena with San Juan (Argentina), Osorno with San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina), and Punta Arenas with Río Gallegos (Argentina).

Air transport serves mostly the cities at both extremes of the country and some towns of difficult access, such as El Salvador and Coihayque. The main airline is Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile (LAN; National Airline of Chile). A tourist service is maintained by LAN between Santiago and Easter Island, in the Pacific, with the flight continuing to Papeete, Tahiti. All major South American lines, plus others from the United States and Europe, handle the flow of international passengers to the Arturo Merino Benítez airport near Santiago. Chacalluta, northeast of Arica, is another major airport.

Government

The Republic of Chile, inaugurated in 1821, has had a long history of representative democracy, with only a few short-lived exceptions. Historically, Chile has been renowned for its political freedom. From September 1973 to March 1990, however, a military junta headed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte presided over the longest period of authoritarian dictatorship in Chilean history. The country is governed in accordance with the constitution of 1981, approved by a plebiscite called by General Pinochet to change the constitution of 1925. The 1981 document placed the administration of the state into the hands of the president and permitted Pinochet to hold office until 1990. The president appoints the state ministers. In 2004 a constitutional amendment reduced the presidential term to four years (from six years, as designated in 1994) and eliminated lifetime senatorial seats.

The bicameral National Congress was dissolved at the time of the 1973 coup, after which legislative functions were carried on by the junta, assisted by legislative commissions. The 1981 constitution allows for a bicameral legislature consisting of an upper chamber, or Senado, and a lower chamber of representatives, or Cámara de Diputados, to be elected by direct popular vote. These two bodies remained in recess until the elections of December 1989.

The justices and prosecutors of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals are appointed by the president from a list of nominees proposed by the Supreme Court. Judges are career functionaries of the Ministry of Justice. The composition of the lower courts is similarly determined.

Local government is carried on through 15 administrative regions, including the metropolitan region of Santiago. The regions are divided into provinces, which in turn are divided into communes. The president appoints the intendents (intendentes) who head the administrations of the regions. The intendents govern with the aid of a regional council, which may include the governors of the constituent provinces and representatives of various other private and public institutions within the region. The provincial governors, like the intendents, serve at the sole pleasure of the president. The communes are administered by a municipal corporation (municipalidad) composed of a mayor (alcalde) and a communal council. The mayor is appointed by the regional council from a list of three candidates submitted by the communal council; in the case of some larger urban centres, the mayor is appointed directly by the president. The councilmen (regidores) are elected by popular vote for four-year terms.

Chile’s traditional political spectrum extended from the extreme right to the extreme left. In the September 1973 coup, however, the junta outlawed Marxist political parties and suspended all activity by traditional parties (with the intention of an eventual return to a competitive party system). New opposition movements formed during Pinochet’s rule, but his government repressed them. By the late 1980s a group of centre and centre-left parties united as the Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática; AD) to actively oppose the regime and promote democracy. Following Pinochet’s defeat in a 1988 plebiscite that formally ended his power, this group was renamed the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertación de los Partidos por la Democracia; CPD). Negotiations between the CPD and Pinochet’s government in 1989 resulted in the removal of the ban on Marxist parties, just one of the amendments to the 1981 constitution that was voted on in a national referendum. Parties under the CPD umbrella include the Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano; PDC), one of Chile’s strongest parties; the Social Democratic Radical Party (Partido Radical Social Demócrata; PRSD), which was formerly known as the Radical Party (the centrist PRSD drifted to the left after 1965, was repressed in 1973, but made a comeback in the mid-1990s under its new name); the Socialist Party of Chile (Partido Socialista de Chile; PS); and the Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia; PPD). The Communist Party of Chile (Partido Comunista de Chile; PCC), which was condemned under Pinochet’s rule, was reinstated by 1990. The centre-right Alliance for Chile (Alianza por Chile; AC) consists of the National Renovation (Renovación Nacional; RN) and the Independent Democratic Union (Unión Demócrata Independiente; UDI). There are also parties in Chile representing the Mapuche people and other social and environmental interests.