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1 [1] (December 8, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govesxi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service informing the Ieg~sIative debate s~nco 1914 Updated December 8, 2025 Chile: An Overview Chile, located along the Pacific coast of South America (Figure 1), traditionally has been a close U.S. partner in Latin America. The 119th Congress may assess U.S. economic and security ties with Chile, including the impact of U.S. tariffs, collaboration on critical minerals trade, and efforts to combat transnational crime, among other issues. Figure I. Chile at a Glance Capital: Santiago Population: 18.5 million (2024 est.) Life Expectancy: 81.8 years (2025 est.) Gross Domestic Product/GDP per Capita: $343.8 biilion/$17,015 (2025 est.) Top exports: copper ores, copper, fruit, fish, CHILE wood pulp, and lithium (2024) Top Trade Partners: China (31%), United States (17%), European Union (11%), Brazil (7%), Japan (6%) (2024) Sources: CRS Visualization; Chile's Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas; International Monetary Fund; and Trade Data Monitor. Po t ca and cono ic Environment Chile's democratic tradition dates to the 19th century, but the country experienced 17 years of authoritarian rule after General Augusto Pinochet led a 1973 military coup that deposed the democratically elected socialist government of President Salvador Allende (1970-1973). More than 3,200 people were killed or disappeared, and some 37,000 people were imprisoned and/or tortured during the Pinochet dictatorship. Chile restored democratic governance in 1990, following a 1988 plebiscite. Center-left and center-right coalitions dominated Chilean politics for three decades following the transition. Both coalitions prioritized political stability and economic growth, eschewing ambitious structural reforms in favor of consensus-based politics, market-oriented economic policies, and incremental social change. Living standards improved significantly between 1990 and 2022, with real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growing by 154% and the poverty rate falling from 68.5% to 6.5%. Nevertheless, most Latinobar6metro polls since the mid- 1990s have shown a majority of Chileans to be dissatisfied with how democracy works in Chile. This dissatisfaction appears to be due to, in part, continued economic and social inequality amid a steady decline in Chile's economic growth rate and has contributed to repeated electoral swings and mass protests over the past 15 years. Boric Admin stration President Gabriel Boric, a left-wing former student leader and legislator, was inaugurated to a four-year term in March 2022. He came to office pledging to address Chile's socioeconomic disparities, which had received renewed attention in the aftermath of mass protests in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Boric had planned to advance portions of his agenda through a constitutional reform process launched in 2020, but Chileans voted to reject a Boric-backed constitutional rewrite in September 2022 as well as a subsequent, more conservative draft in December 2023. Although Boric's leftist and center-left allies lack majorities in both chambers of the Chilean congress, he has won legislative support for some policy changes. These include measures to increase government mining royalties, raise the minimum wage, reduce the work week from 45 to 40 hours, and modify the pension system. Polls suggest that Chileans have grown more concerned about security and immigration over the past four years. Although Chile remains among the safest countries in Latin America, homicides have increased over the past decade, driven, in part, by organized crime. For example, Tren de Aragua (TdA), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization of Venezuelan origin, reportedly has expanded into Chile and sought to control illicit markets such as migrant smuggling and human and drug trafficking. Some Chileans have linked rising crime rates to increased irregular migration. The Chilean government estimates that Chile's unauthorized migrant population increased from about 10,400 in 2019 to 337,000 in 2023, with Venezuelans accounting for 75% of the total. Chile's economy has experienced modest growth under Boric. Annual GDP growth averaged 1.8% between 2022 and 2024, amid the government's withdrawal of pandemic- era stimulus measures, elevated inflation, and domestic and geopolitical uncertainty. Chile's central bank projects 2.25%-2.75% GDP growth in 2025 as the expansionary effects of increased investment and household consumption are partially offset by the direct and indirect effects of U.S. tariffs on Chile's open, export-oriented economy. 2025 Elections Chile held presidential and congressional elections on November 16, 2025. Boric is ineligible for reelection due to a constitutional prohibition on consecutive presidential terms. His former labor minister, Jeannette Jara of the left- wing Communist Party, won a plurality with 26.8% of the presidential vote. Jos6 Antonio Kast of the right-wing Republican Party, the 2021 presidential runner-up, finished second with 23.9% of the vote and is set to face Jara in a second-round runoff scheduled for December 14, 2025. Kast is favored to win, given that right-of-center candidates won a majority of the first-round vote and Jam's ceiling appears to be limited by her Communist Party membership and Boric's low approval rating (28% in October 2025). Kast has campaigned on combatting crime and illegal immigration and reducing taxes, regulations, and government spending, among other policy changes.