Political environmentPolitical freedomFor much of its life, Chile has practiced democracy and adopted constitutional government, with the exception of the period 1973-1990, in which Augusto Pinochet played a role military coup and overthrew the government, exercising authoritarian rule. However, since the end of his rule, Chile has had a stable democratic government in which it practices the rule of law. The president is elected for a four-year term and 38 members make up the Senate which remains in office for 8 years, half of which are elected every 4 years (Freedomhouse). In Chile, freedom of speech is guaranteed, media censorship is low and no government restrictions are imposed on the Internet. People are allowed to practice religion freely, which is a huge step forward from the strict emigration policies colonial rulers once had in which only Roman Catholics were allowed. Furthermore, the government rarely interferes with court rulings. All of these policies and practices have contributed positively to Freedom House's Freedom Index rating. Freedom House is an organization that ranks and rates countries based on their levels of freedom, and Chile was given a score of 1 out of 7 for both civil liberties and political rights. This gives Chile an overall freedom score of 1, the best score that can be assigned to a country, reflecting its robust political environment. Corruption Chile is one of the rare Latin American countries relatively free of corruption. The government has implemented several good policies and established several methods to ensure that Chile is free from corruption. In 2003, Congress passed several campaign finance and transparency laws that hampered foreign direct investment and enjoyed a $6.2 billion trade surplus (fas.org) . It is expected to receive $102 billion in investments between 2013 and 2016. According to the executive vice president of the Foreign Investment Committee of the Chilean Ministry of Economy, foreign direct investment flows globally have decreased by 18% in the last years, while Chile, on the other hand, recorded an increase in its capital investments by 32.2% (as-coa.org). US-Chile Relations Since Chile regained its democratic government in 1990, it has enjoyed good relations with the United States. President Obama himself stated that “the relationship between the United States and Chile is as strong as any other relationship we have” (fas.org). In June 2003, the United States and Chile signed a trade agreement that eliminated tariffs on 87 percent of bilateral trade between them. Consumer and industrial goods