Consternation

摘要

Ever since General Augusto Pinochet stepped down as its dictator in 1990, Chile has been governed by a centre-left coalition, known as the Concertacion. It has delivered both gentle social reform and (until recently) high economic growth. Political analysts have confidently assumed that the coalition would win a third term of office in the presidential election due to take place in December—especially since the general's arrest in London last October served to remind voters of the less-than-democratic origins of their right-wing opponents.