VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile—Sebastián Piñera, the two-time former president of Chile who faced social upheaval followed by a pandemic in his second term, died Tuesday in a helicopter crash. He was 74. Chile Interior Minister Carolina Tohá confirmed the death of the former president. No further details were immediately released about the cause of the […]
SANTIAGO, Chile—Firefighters wrestled Sunday with massive forest fires that broke out in central Chile two days earlier, as officials extended curfews in cities most heavily affected by the blazes and said at least 112 people had been killed. The fires burned with the highest intensity around the city of Viña del Mar, where a famous […]
SANTIAGO, Chile—A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday morning and was felt in several provinces of neighboring Argentina, but there were no immediate reports of damage and authorities said there was no tsunami risk. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 9:33 a.m. local time (12:33 p.m. […]
WASHINGTON—”Hola, Mama.” What seems like an unremarkable greeting between mother and son was in this case anything but. Forty-two years ago, hospital workers took Maria Angelica Gonzalez’ son from her arms right after birth and later told her he had died. Now, she was meeting him face-to-face at her home in Valdivia, Chile. “I love […]
SANTA ANA, Calif.—House Speaker Kevin McCarthy threatened to use the congressional spending bill to block funding of a visa waiver program for Chile that has been blamed for a sharp rise in organized crime including home burglaries and robberies in the United States. The rise in residential and business crimes is linked to a Chilean […]
Chile says it wants to nationalize its lithium industry. The nation is the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, which is essential for making electric vehicle batteries. China has links to the South American country’s industry.
RIO FUTA, Chile—As his parents fought wildfires threatening their home in southern Chile, 13-year-old Lucas Cespedes decided to take action, ferrying firefighters across the local river in a small yellow rowing boat to help them put out the flames. The Andean country is battling some of the worst wildfires in years that have claimed at […]
Germany says it needs more lithium and wants to catch up with Beijing’s huge investment in the south American mining sector. At the same time Berlin is looking to reduce dependence on China. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a new, expanded commodities partnership with Chile as he toured South America. Like much of the world, […]
Scientists in Chile’s Patagonia region are unearthing the southernmost dinosaur fossils recorded outside Antarctica, including remains of megaraptors that would have dominated the area’s food chain before their mass extinction. Fossils of megaraptors, a carnivorous dinosaur that inhabited parts of South America during the Cretaceous period some 70 million years ago, were found in sizes […]
A smart buoy device that can ‘hear’ the ocean could help endangered whales avoid colliding with ships while migrating from Antarctica to the equator. These buoys are the first of many that are planned for the Gulf of Corcovado.
CHILOE ISLAND, Chile—A smart buoy that can “hear” the ocean is part of a new effort to help endangered whales avoid ship collisions on their journey from Antarctica to the equator. The buoy was installed in the Gulf of Corcovado, some 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) south of Chile’s capital, in early October and is the […]
A majority of Chileans voted on Sunday to reject a proposed new constitution which opponents argued would shift the country too far to the left. Over 13 million residents of Chile voted in a referendum either for or against the proposed changes to the South American country’s Constitution. With nearly all the votes counted, 62 percent […]
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is one of the most beautiful and peaceful countries in the world. Here are some stunning aerial nature views from Chile’s most beautiful and iconic landscape locations, paired with a brand new calming piano music masterpiece. Relax and let your worries fly away! _ Credit: Simple Happiness – youtube.com/channel/UCSNCAZHyxLYW7e-_WvUNSfw […]
SANTIAGO, Chile—Chilean authorities warned that the area around a copper mine where a sinkhole suddenly appeared is at high risk of further collapse and has set up a security perimeter. Government agencies and the mine’s owners are studying what caused the appearance in late July of the mysterious hole that spans 36.5 meters (120 feet) […]
SANTIAGO—Chile will seek to apply harsh sanctions on those responsible for a huge sinkhole near a copper mine in the country’s north, the mining minister said on Monday. The mysterious hole of 36.5 meters in diameter that emerged in late July has provoked the mobilization of local authorities and led the mining regulator Sernageomin to […]
ANNAPOLIS, Md.—A midshipman from Texas died after falling over a waterfall in Chile, the U.S. Naval Academy announced Monday. Midshipman 2nd Class Luke Gabriel Bird of New Braunfels, Texas, was participating in a semester abroad program at Chile’s Arturo Prat Naval Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy said in a news release. The 21-year-old junior was […]
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia—On Dec. 19, 35-year-old socialist Gabriel Boric became the youngest president in Chile’s history after defeating right-wing candidate Jose Antonio Kast. Boric won with 55.87 percent of the votes in a run-off election after the Nov. 21 general poll. The Santiago stock exchange plummeted more than six points after Boric was announced the winner, while the U.S. dollar […]
At the Buin Zoo on the outskirts of Chilean capital Santiago, a veterinarian sporting a tiger-striped face mask administers an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to a tiger in a cage, as another zoo worker feeds the animal chunks of raw meat via a pair of long tongs. The Buin Zoo, like others around the world, is […]
Beautiful patches of purple flowers are a rare sight in one of Chile’s three deserts. They only appear once every five to seven years. But now the country’s agriculture ministry is drumming up a plan to make them bloom every year.
