*january 2010*
(‘sebastián piñera’ of the center-right alliance for chile is elected president of chile)
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(‘Spain’ conquered and colonized ‘Chile’ in the mid-16th century, replacing ‘Inca’ rule in northern and central ‘Chile’, but failing to conquer the independent ‘Mapuche’ that inhabited south-central ‘Chile’)
(after declaring its independence from ‘Spain’ in 1818, ‘Chile’ emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable ‘authoritarian republic’)
(in the 19th century, ‘Chile’ saw significant economic and territorial growth, ending ‘Mapuche’ resistance in the 1880s and gaining its current northern territory in the ‘War of the Pacific’ (1879–83) after defeating ‘Peru’ and ‘Bolivia’)
(in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil)
(this development culminated with the 1973 ‘Chilean coup d’état’ that overthrew Salvador Allende’s democratically-elected left-wing government and instituted a 16-year-long right-wing ‘military dictatorship’ that left more than 3,000 people dead or missing)
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(the regime headed by ‘Augusto Pinochet’ ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a ‘centre-left’ coalition which ruled through 4 ‘presidencies’ until 2010)