Voters in Chile Reject a Constitution Targeting Economy, Indigenous Rights - The Wall Street Journal

SANTIAGO, Chile—Chileans on Sunday by an overwhelming margin rejected a draft constitution that would have

reined in the country's market-based economy, undermined the balance of power in government and granted sweeping rights to indigenous people.

The outcome of a national referendum was a blow for the new leftist president, Gabriel Boric, a 36-year-old former student protest leader who pledged to expand the state's role in the economy and improve public services for poorer Chileans who feel abandoned in Latin America's most developed country. Though elected in December with strong support from young Chileans, Mr. Boric had in a recent Cadem poll slipped to a 39% approval rating as the economy faltered and violence surged in the heartland of the Mapuche indigenous community in Chile's central valley.