Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Chile assumed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2003 and is an active member of the UN family of agencies, serving as a member of the Commission on Human Rights and participating in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the second Summit of the Americas in 1998, was the chair of the Rio Group in 2001, hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002, and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. In 2005 it will host the Community of Democracies ministerial. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile and has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A session of the Security Council in progress The United Nations Security Council is the most powerful organ of the United Nations. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Summit of the Americas is the name for one of a sequence of summits bringing together the countries of the Americas for discussion of a variety of issues. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Rio Group is an international organization of Latin American states. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... APEC can also stand for Atlantic Provinces Economic Council Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a group of Pacific Rim countries who meet with the purpose of improving economic and political ties. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... Flag of Mercosur Mercosur or Mercosul (Spanish: Mercado Común del Sur, Portuguese: Mercado Comum do Sul, English: Southern Common Market) is a trading zone among Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, founded in 1995. ...

The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. The two countries maintain consular relations. Events and trends Technology The World Wide Web was born at CERN Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other technology Reduction in size and cost of mobile phones leads to a massive surge in their popularity Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K) Microsoft... The War of the Pacific was fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru, from 1879 to 1884. ...