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SANTIAGO (Reuters) - When Chile voted in October to scrap its constitution written during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, residents of the South American nation’s “sacrifice zones” were among the strongest supporters of change.
People enjoy the beach in front of a thermoelectric plant at Las Ventanas area, Valparaiso, Chile, February 16, 2020. Picture taken February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Pablo Sanhueza
In those five heavily industrialized areas, established from the 1950s to help drive Chile’s economic development and home to some 200,000 people, support for a new charter exceeded 90% in some cases compared to 78% nationwide.
Residents, activist groups and academics who have studied pollution in these areas believe a new constitution could help reduce emissions, shutter coal-fired power stations and improve healthcare for those left sickened.
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