Overview
- The constitutional reform was formally filed for Senate review this week and has entered committee processing for Constitution, Defense and Public Security oversight.
- The proposal would create a new state of exception lasting up to 240 days that allows warrantless interception of communications, requisitioning of goods, limits on movement and a broader role for the Armed Forces.
- Prominent figures inside Kast’s own coalition, including Senate president Paulina Núñez, Evópoli senator Luciano Cruz‑Coke and UDI leader Guillermo Ramírez, have warned they will withhold support unless the most controversial powers are removed or rewritten.
- The government says the measures are needed to confront organized crime and terrorism in hard‑to‑reach areas and President Kast has signaled the text can be modified, but he is pushing the wider ACOT package of roughly 30 security initiatives.
- As a constitutional reform the bill requires four‑sevenths of the Senate (29 votes), creating a high procedural hurdle that makes passage uncertain and raises legal and human‑rights concerns tied to past state surveillance abuses.