The nearly 400,000 Chileans living abroad may finally become enfranchised in the country they call home.

Currently, absentee voting is not allowed for Chileans residing in other countries, but during the presidency of Michelle Bachelet, the four-party, center-left Concertación coalition that she was a part of pushed for legislation that would change this law.

Francisco Javier Cuadra says he was forewarned of a 1991 assassination plot

Francisco Javier Cuadra, a former civilian spokesman for the military government of Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973 – 1990), last week said he was aware that his life and the lives of others were being plotted against in 1991 by an armed faction of the Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodriguez (FPMR), a revolutionary group the had opposed the military regime and sought revenge on its civilian supporters.

Chile`s Mining Minister Laurence Golborne led a commemoration at the San Jose mine on Sunday to mark the one-month anniversary since the 33 miners have been trapped underground in northern Chile.

Vehicles on the site honked to mark the exact time the mine initially collapsed on Aug. 5 and family members sang and cried in honor of their relatives trapped 700 meters below the site near Copiapo.

President Sebastian Piñera was met with both applause and boos during his speech to inaugurate the opening of the Gabriela Mistral Center last Friday. Critical shouting came mostly from supporters of the Mapuche hunger strikers, as well as striking Universidad de Chile students.

“It's just a part of democracy,” said the Minister of Culture, Luciano Cruz-Coke, of the negative cheers during Pinera's speech.

With the demand for more buses over the Bicentennial weekend comes higher prices for some cities, as much as 100 percent in some cases.  Concepcion, La Serena, and Puerto Montt are the destinations with the highest rise in ticket price. 

An estimated 200,000 travelers will use buses to leave Santiago for the holiday weekend.  More than 30,000 buses will be on the nation’s highways.