Attentive: Chile delays its clocks for one hour – ElSol.com.ar – Diario de Mendoza, Argentina

The Chileans will have to postpone their clocks for sixty minutes until midnight this Saturday, except in the Magallanes and Antarctic region, where begins to run the so-called "winter program".

The initiative means that the South American country of 18 million inhabitants will be left with a difference of four hours compared to the international time of Greenwich (GMT), instead of the three that govern the summer, according to the agency EFE.

In the western island territory, which includes Easter Island and Isla Sala y Gómez, in the Pacific, the clocks must also be delayed and will remain with a difference of six hours compared to GMT time.

According to the authorities, "the winter time" will change this time from three to five months and will end on September 7th at midnight.

The Chilean Minister of Energy, Susana Jiménez told reporters that with this modality, "we wanted to privilege the morning light, which directly benefits the well-being of the population and, especially, our children, who must arrive at school in the light of day to begin your learning process ".

Since 1966, the agency responsible for maintaining the official time in Chile is the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA), based in Valparaíso.

During the great drought of 1968, the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964-1970) decided to implement the temporary change of time to cope with the lack of rain that year. but it has been repeated the following years, with some variations in its extension.