Second Stage of Nationalization
On June 26, 1969, President Eduardo Frei Montalva signed an agreement with the Anaconda Copper Company (which was afterwards ratified by Congress). In this agreement, the government acquired the 51% of the remaining two major mines (Chuquicamata and El Salvador) and also the right for Codelco to consolidate the international sales of Chilean copper.
This process was known as negotiated nationalization, and was designed to avoid a conflict with international investors (and ultimately with the United States), and to allow for the acquisition of the technical, financial and marketing knowledge of the multinationals. A similar process was used to acquire a dominant ownership over the rest of the copper industry.
In the agreement, it was established that the Chilean government could buy within the next 13 years (counting from 1970) the remaining 49% of the foreign ownership from the multinational corporations, but only after having paid at least 60% of the current debt due from the purchase of the original 51%. It also fixed a clear formula for the valuation of the assets to be bought, for the liquidation of profits, for the increase of direct investment in new works, and related issues.
Read more about this topic: Chilean Nationalization Of Copper
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