Chileans commemorate 53rd anniversary of copper nationalization

Santiago de Chile. With an occasion on the former Chuquicamata mining camp, Chileans commemorated this Thursday the 53rd anniversary of the nationalization of copper, which occurred on July 11, 1971 throughout the federal government of President Salvador Allende.

“Fifty-three years in the past, Allende mentioned that at present is the Day of Dignity, as a result of Chile is breaking with the previous, standing up with religion sooner or later and starting the definitive path to its financial independence, which implies its full political independence,” recalled President Gabriel Boric on the ceremony.

The nation’s determination to take steps towards sovereignty over this useful resource was what allowed it to construct a lot of what has been achieved over time in public works, training, subsidies, roads and social housing, Boric mentioned.

“There are traces of copper there,” he mentioned.

He reported that since July 11, 1971, the state-owned Nationwide Copper Company (Codelco) has given the State greater than 160 billion {dollars}.

That has been Chile’s wage, the pillar on which many welfare insurance policies have been constructed, he mentioned.

In response to calls from right-wing sectors for the sale of a part of Codelco, the president warned that the corporate won’t be privatized and is transferring ahead with new capabilities and explorations, akin to lithium.

The corporate is a world chief in copper manufacturing and its reserves signify six p.c of the worldwide whole.

The way forward for Codelco is formidable and promising, and it faces the problem of step by step rising its manufacturing to realize 1.8 million tons of effective copper by 2030, the president mentioned.

Previous to the occasion, Boric visited the Chuquicamata mine and its Built-in Operations Middle (CIO), along with the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams, the president of the Codelco board of administrators, Máximo Pacheco, and executives of the state-owned firm.