On September 4, 2022, 13 million Chilean’s participated in a mandatory vote of the newly drafted constitution, which would drastically change the institutional structure of society and the rights of the people. The results were unexpected. Almost 62% of people voted against the proposed draft, compared to the 80% of people who had supported the idea of a constitutional referendum when it was proposed in October 2020. The proposed constitution had 388 articles and was 178 pages long, and included “issues like gender equality, environmental protections and Indigenous rights throughout the document” (Politi, 2022). It would have made Chile “the guarantor of more than 100 rights, more than any other national constitution in the world”.

On September 4th, the people of Chile will vote on a new constitution. Protests have erupted across the country as people worry over water rights, giving authority over mining rights to the state, and the possibility of corruption.

On August 24th, President Petro took the first steps to make good on his campaign promise regarding the extradition of drug traffickers to the United States. Petro's proposal follows a series of failed attempts by previous administrations to deal with drugs within Colombia. Petro pointed out that “despite billions of dollars in security spending and decades of U.S. pressure to reduce drug production, Colombia remains a top global supplier of cocaine” (Vargas, 2022). In fact, a White House study reported in 2021, Colombia produced around 972 tons of cocaine, most of which was exported to the U.S., while 234,000 hectares were planted with coco, the plant used to make cocaine.