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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Chile
Index
The 1980 constitution, prepared and enacted by the
military
government, states that the armed forces "exist for the
defense of
the fatherland, are essential for national security, and
guarantee
the institutional order of the Republic" (Article 90). The
military
is capable of carrying out its responsibility to deter any
probable
enemy or group of enemies. As in most other Latin American
countries, the role as guarantor of national security and
institutional order is deemed to extend to the defense of
national
institutions against internal as well as external threats.
These
have been controversial notions, but the Aylwin government
was
unable to clarify the role of the military or to assert
the
principle of presidential control over the military.
The 1980 constitution and the Organic Constitutional
Law of the
Armed Forces (Law 18,948 of February 1990) that was
enacted at the
end of the military government expanded the military's
autonomy
from the president and gave it a voice over national
affairs
through its participation in the newly created National
Security
Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nacional--Cosena). Presided
over by
the president of the republic, Cosena includes the
presidents of
the Senate and the Supreme Court, the commanders in chief
of the
armed forces, and the director general of the Carabineros
of Chile
(Carabineros de Chile), a national police force with a
paramilitary
organization
(see The
Security Forces
, this ch.). The
constitutional reforms approved in July 1989 added the
comptroller
general (contralorĂa general) to Cosena, bringing
the total
number of voting members on it to eight. Also
participating as
members, but without the right to vote, are the ministers
of
defense; economy, development, and reconstruction;
finance; foreign
relations; and interior. Cosena also selects four former
military
commanders in chief (one from each service) as designated
senators
and two of seven judges of the powerful Constitutional
Tribunal
(Tribunal Constitucional). After the 1989 constitutional
reform,
Cosena was given the power to represent
(representar) its
views on any matter that it deemed appropriate to the
president,
Congress, or the Constitutional Tribunal; to give its
consent to
the president to remove a top military commander (and thus
a member
of Cosena); and to ask any government agency for
information on
security matters.
In 1992 and early 1993, the Aylwin government presented
constitutional reform legislation to Congress in order to
reinstitute the president's right to remove military
officers,
including the heads of the services, at the chief
executive's
discretion (only Cosena has that right). Another set of
proposed
reforms presented in 1993 also would have eliminated the
designated
senators and revamped the composition of Cosena by adding
the
president of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of
Congress)
to it (thereby creating a civilian majority on it), and it
would
have changed the Constitutional Tribunal by composing it
of members
chosen mainly by the president and the Senate. However,
the Aylwin
government lacked the congressional majorities needed to
enact
these reforms. As a result, these changes were not
instituted
(see The
Autonomous Powers
, ch. 4).
Data as of March 1994
Mission
The 1980 constitution, prepared and enacted by the
military
government, states that the armed forces "exist for the
defense of
the fatherland, are essential for national security, and
guarantee
the institutional order of the Republic" (Article 90). The
military
is capable of carrying out its responsibility to deter any
probable
enemy or group of enemies. As in most other Latin American
countries, the role as guarantor of national security and
institutional order is deemed to extend to the defense of
national
institutions against internal as well as external threats.
These
have been controversial notions, but the Aylwin government
was
unable to clarify the role of the military or to assert
the
principle of presidential control over the military.
The 1980 constitution and the Organic Constitutional
Law of the
Armed Forces (Law 18,948 of February 1990) that was
enacted at the
end of the military government expanded the military's
autonomy
from the president and gave it a voice over national
affairs
through its participation in the newly created National
Security
Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nacional--Cosena). Presided
over by
the president of the republic, Cosena includes the
presidents of
the Senate and the Supreme Court, the commanders in chief
of the
armed forces, and the director general of the Carabineros
of Chile
(Carabineros de Chile), a national police force with a
paramilitary
organization
(see The
Security Forces
, this ch.). The
constitutional reforms approved in July 1989 added the
comptroller
general (contralorĂa general) to Cosena, bringing
the total
number of voting members on it to eight. Also
participating as
members, but without the right to vote, are the ministers
of
defense; economy, development, and reconstruction;
finance; foreign
relations; and interior. Cosena also selects four former
military
commanders in chief (one from each service) as designated
senators
and two of seven judges of the powerful Constitutional
Tribunal
(Tribunal Constitucional). After the 1989 constitutional
reform,
Cosena was given the power to represent
(representar) its
views on any matter that it deemed appropriate to the
president,
Congress, or the Constitutional Tribunal; to give its
consent to
the president to remove a top military commander (and thus
a member
of Cosena); and to ask any government agency for
information on
security matters.
In 1992 and early 1993, the Aylwin government presented
constitutional reform legislation to Congress in order to
reinstitute the president's right to remove military
officers,
including the heads of the services, at the chief
executive's
discretion (only Cosena has that right). Another set of
proposed
reforms presented in 1993 also would have eliminated the
designated
senators and revamped the composition of Cosena by adding
the
president of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of
Congress)
to it (thereby creating a civilian majority on it), and it
would
have changed the Constitutional Tribunal by composing it
of members
chosen mainly by the president and the Senate. However,
the Aylwin
government lacked the congressional majorities needed to
enact
these reforms. As a result, these changes were not
instituted
(see The
Autonomous Powers
, ch. 4).
Data as of March 1994
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