President Gabriel Boric has announced a plan to require that private companies take Chile’s government on as a partner in the extraction of lithium, which is in high demand around the world for use in electric batteries.

Vice President Dina Boluarte — who speaks both Spanish and Quechua — replaced Pedro Castillo and became the first female leader in the history of the republic after hours of wrangling between the legislature and the departing president, who had tried to prevent an impeachment vote.

A group of 16 municipalities filed a lawsuit on November 22 against multiple Big Oil companies for downplaying the risks of their fossil-fuel products on climate change.

Reasons for why so many Chileans rejected the proposed document —which would’ve replaced the current constitution written under the Pinochet dictatorship— center on widespread fears stoked by a massive misinformation campaign.

Latino Rebels asked senators this week about last Sunday’s constitutional referendum in Chile, in which a new constitution backed by the country’s young leftist president was rejected in a mandatory vote by a 24-point margin.

After voters in Chile rejected a progressive constitution that would have fundamentally changed the country, political leaders on Monday started working on finding a path forward to reform the current charter which dates back to the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed Monday that he will skip the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, dealing a blow to the U.S.’ efforts to rally governments to work together to address surging migration in the hemisphere.

With Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador topping a list of leaders threatening to stay home to protest the exclusion by the host United States of authoritarian leaders from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, experts say the event could turn into an embarrassment for U.S. President Joe Biden.

A major blackout last week left more than 1.5 million clients —including households, businesses, and schools— without electricity, and over 160,000 without water. Authorities reported on Sunday morning that electricity had been restored to almost all clients.

Leading presidential candidate Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that the Black environmentalist lawyer Francia Márquez will serve as his running mate in May’s presidential elections. Márquez is the first Black woman to run in presidential elections in Colombia’s history.

Left-leaning former student leader Gabriel Boric was sworn in as Chile’s new president on Friday, vowing to oversee a political and economic renovation of a nation shaken by repeated massive protests over inequality in recent years despite a relatively vibrant economy.

The triumph of Gabriel Boric over the extreme right in Chile sent out “a generational howl” that is reverberating throughout the region and is echoed in Puerto Rico by young Boricuas who want to change the political and social architecture of their homeland.

Latino Rebels Radio: January 13, 2022

The fact that, in the last 50 years, any idea that questions the status quo has been stigmatized with the discriminatory epithet of “Communist,” “Leftist” or “socialist” is evidence that the political spectrum has moved so far to the right.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A leftist millennial who rose to prominence during anti-government protests was elected Chile’s next president Sunday after a bruising campaign against a free-market firebrand likened to Donald Trump.

Recent polls show that women and young voters overwhelmingly favor the leftist Boric, sometimes by as much as 20 points. “It all depends on turnout,” said Marcela Rios, a political scientist at the United Nations Development Program in Chile who has focused on gender issues.

The migrants fear that if far-right candidate José Antonio Kast wins he will close the border as he promised during his campaign.

As Gabriel Boric prepares to square off against José Kast in a second round of voting for the Chilean presidency, social movements and the Left have united to defend democracy against creeping neo-fascism.

A conservative lawmaker with a history of defending Chile’s military dictatorship and a former student protest leader are headed to a polarizing presidential runoff after both failed to garner enough votes to win the South American country’s election outright.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called the protests an “absolute failure” in an interview on Tuesday. He also criticized U.S. President Joe Biden for not yet addressing the embargo and continuing with Trump-era policies that have exacerbated the country’s shortage of basic goods.