SANTIAGO: Chile announced Friday it will stage a referendum to replace the country’s dictatorship-era constitution — a key demand of protesters after nearly a month of sometimes violent civil unrest.

The current charter, in force since 1980 and enacted by the former military junta of Augusto Pinochet, has been changed numerous times in the years since.

But it does not establish the state’s responsibility to provide education and healthcare — two demands made by millions of Chileans who have taken to the streets.

Lawmakers in Chile’s National Congress agreed early Friday to hold the plebiscite in April 2020 after hours of intense negotiations between the governing coalition and opposition parties.

(Agencies)