Panorama

Today's program focuses on current events in Latin America and Spain: beginning with the historic referendum in Chile, in which more than 78 percent of the population called for the creation of a citizen based constitutional convention to draft a new constitution replacing the Pinochet-era one which has prolonged many of the noxious social effects of the dictatorship. We also report on the status of Bolivia since the elections earlier in the month saw a landslide victory for MAS, the movement towards socialism party headed by former president Evo Morales. A year after the coup that ousted Morales, his former economy minister and newly elected President, Luis Arce, says he wants to build bridges across the divided society. Protests against the government of Ivan Duque continue in Colombia where hundreds of indiginous and civic leaders have been killed this year. Rural communities protest that the government is not honoring the terms agreed in the 2016 peace deal and not protecting them against drug cartels, ranchers and paramilitary groups. In Spain, the government has presented its proposed budget for 2021, which, if finally approved by Congress would be the first in years.