Chile and Latin America are at a historic crossroads. For Chile’s president, Sebastián Piñera, today’s new revolution in knowledge, technology and information will benefit only those countries that embrace it, but could be cruel to those who let it pass them by.

When Chile became the first South American country to join the OECD in 2010, the event was greeted as a seal on years of progress, not to mention hard work. Still, challenges remain, including in the fight against poverty, as Minister of Planning Felipe Kast explains in this interview with the OECD Observer.

Chile has become the 31st member of the OECD this May and the first from South America. The country joins the organisation during a time of uncertainty both globally and at home, as the shock of February’s tragic earthquake still reverberates. Chile’s finance minister, Felipe Larraín, shares some thoughts on that disaster and the country’s recovery programme

Chile is set to become the OECD’s 31st member country. It is a momentous occasion, as captured in the following extracts from speeches by President Michelle Bachelet of Chile and by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, following the signing of the agreement on the terms of accession by the Republic of Chile to the OECD Convention, delivered in Santiago, Chile, 11 January 2010.

Address by the President of Chile, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, to the Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developpement (OECD), Paris, May, 28th

Chile has elected its first female president, in Michelle Bachelet. As head of the left-leaning coalition which has led Chile since the country’s return to democracy in 1990, the new leader has promised continuity, though with a promise of more jobs and social justice. Tackling these issues could indeed make a difference, even if the economy has fared relatively well, as our OECD experts explain.