Chile is heading into a high-stakes presidential runoff defined by sharply contrasting visions of the country’s recent past and visions for its future.

Chileans face perhaps the starkest choice in the history of their country’s young democracy when they vote next month in a presidential runoff between hard-right José Antonio Kast and communist Jeannette Jara.

In Chile, a hard-right former lawmaker and admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump is leading in the presidential runoff.

Chile is bracing for a tense presidential runoff after a first-round vote on Sunday set up a showdown between a member of the Communist Party and an ultraconservative veteran politician, sharply polarizing the country between the political left and right.

Chilean actor Sebastián Solorza is already a household name for many Chileans.

Chilean voters have rejected a conservative constitution to replace the country’s dictatorship-era charter, a little over a year after turning down a proposed leftist charter.

A clergy sex abuse scandal involving Chile’s most notorious pedophile, the priest Fernando Karadima, shook the South American country in 2010 in a way never seen in Latin America.

The president of Chile issued a fervent defense of democracy on Monday.

A daunting canoe voyage — covering almost 500 kilometers, or about 300 miles across a stretch of the Pacific Ocean — is underway.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric shook up his cabinet in an effort to relaunch his government less than 48 hours after he was dealt a resounding blow when citizens overwhelmingly rejected a new progressive constitution he had championed.

Chileans have resoundingly rejected a new constitution to replace a charter imposed by the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago, dealing a stinging setback to President Gabriel Boric who argued the document would usher in a progressive era.

When Gabriel Boric is sworn in as Chile’s president he’ll not only be the youngest to lead the South American country but also the first in Latin America to sport several tattoos.

A leftist millennial who rose to prominence during anti-government protests has been elected Chile’s next president after a bruising campaign against a free-market firebrand likened to Donald Trump.

Most eligible Chilean voters stayed home for the first round of presidential voting.

A merciless sun sears the migrants as they walk through one of the driest places in the world, trying to illegally cross the border from Bolivia into Chile fearing it might soon be closed.

Chileans are voting for president Sunday with a mix of dread, optimism and above all uncertainty about what lies ahead after a wave of social and political unrest that includes the current effort to rewrite the constitution.

Constitutions are pretty formulaic,” said the professor, David Law of the University of Hong Kong. A more inclusive country and the erasure of a much-amended relic of military rule, the 1980 constitution. Law, the Hong Kong professor, said South Africa's constitution “in particular is pushed as an example for every Global South/transitional/developing country out there. Not so clear.″Approved after the 1994 end of white racist rule, the South African constitution drew from codes in Germany, Canada, India, Namibia and elsewhere. “This is not a good analogy, but ask yourself how much constraint the U.S. Constitution would have imposed on Trump if Trump had final say over the meaning of the Constitution," Law said.

Whether a new constitution can deliver the sweeping, egalitarian change that many in the country of 19 million people want won’t be clear for years. “How will a new Chilean constitution define new economic and social rights, which are only attainable if the funding resources are there?" The vote on a new constitution was the result of an agreement between the government of President Sebastian Piñera and the opposition. The old constitution was amended over the years, notably with the 2005 repeal of an article that had allowed appointed senators and senators for life in Congress. Also, Chile's Indigenous groups are not specifically mentioned in the old constitution, and there is a push for Indigenous candidates to be allowed to run in April for election to the constitutional convention.

The special convention would begin drafting a new constitution that would be submitted to voters in mid-2022. “What happened in the social outburst is now reflected in the outcome of the plebiscite," said one celebrant, Paulina León. “The people have demonstrated saying they want better pensions, better health, better education. Officials trying to ensure voters felt safe barred infected persons or those close to them from the polls, and long lines formed at voting places. Voters had to wear masks — dipping them only briefly for identification purposes — and brought their own pencils.