The first round results have pitted Jeannette Jara and José Antonio Kast in what will be a decisive electoral race marked by the advance of the far right, fragmented support from other candidates and a tense social climate. Chile approaches the second round as a divided nation, with the outcome still open for December 14th.
Carmen Esquivel
In the elections of November 16th, Jeannette Jara, the candidate backed by eight pro-government parties plus the Christian Democrat Party, won 26.85% of the votes. José Antonio Kast followed with 23.92%, a difference of almost 3 percentage points. In third place was Franco Parisi from the People’s Party. While he has not yet offered his support to either of the two candidates, Kast has already received endorsements from the candidates in fourth and fifth place: Johannes Kaiser, of the extremist National Libertarian Party, and Evelyn Matthei, of the traditional right.
On the whole, analyses are more pessimistic than optimistic. Many already take for granted that the country will swing towards the far right, especially when the candidates’ votes are counted; others are more cautious and talk of an open second round.
“I think there’s still a mathematical chance to reverse this situation, without ignoring that the scenario itself is complex”, Álvaro Ramis, Rector of the Academy of Christian Humanism University (UAHC), stated in an interview with Prensa Latina.
When questioned about the results, Ramis warns that this electoral process is taking place at a time when, worldwide, the classic far-right is advancing with a drive for order and authoritarianism, and which feeds on fear, rejection of immigration, and nostalgia for the dictatorship.
Secondly, he said that the state has failed to respond to survival problems at global level, which is pushing people into economic precarity.
Candidates at the poles
Jeannette Jara, 51, comes from El Cortijo, a village in the commune of Conchalí, in the north of the capital. “I was born in a wicker cradle, not a golden one”, she said on one occasion, referring to her rival, who comes from a wealthy family.
Jara was president of the Student Federation at the University of Santiago, a union leader and a member of the Communist Youth from the age of 14.
She has been part of the Communist Party since 1999 which put her forward as its presidential candidate, although she then distanced herself from some of the party’s historical positions, even announcing the possibility of “suspending”, “freezing” or “renouncing” her affiliation, if she were elected.
In the current government she took office as the Minister of Labour and succeeded in passing important legislation such as a rise in the minimum wage, the gradual reduction of the working week from 45 to 40 hours, and a reform to increase pension amounts.
Her programme, entitled “A Chile that delivers”, aims to secure a minimum wage of 750 thousand pesos a month (about US$800), in a bid to strengthen workers’ purchasing power.
In terms of national security, she proposes combining preventative measures with reinforcing borders, providing greater capacity to the police force, and, above all, lifting banking secrecy to trace the money trail of organised crime.
In her recent speeches, she promised to incorporate proposals from candidates who were left behind, such as the refund of value-added tax on medicines, reducing luxury salaries in the state, and the creation of a National Oncology Plan.
During her speech after the elections, Jara announced, “Today a new election begins” and added that in the second round there will be two contenders with very different visions for the country: progressivism versus the far-right.
The far-right proposal
José Antonio Kast, 59, is a lawyer and politician of German origin who has served as a councillor and member of parliament, and is seeking the presidency for the third time.
Kast advocates a “tough hand” against crime, building walls and digging trenches at the borders to stop migrants, and constructing prisons modelled on those in El Salvador. The Republican candidate proposes to reduce the role of the state and plans a $6 billion cut in public spending during his first 18 months in office.“Kast aligns himself with the most organic reactionary international movement, alongside Vox in Spain and Javier Milei in Argentina,” said Ramis, who holds a degree in Education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
“At the national level,” he added, “this is a return to the most reactionary positions of Pinochetism, and Kast has no hesitation in expressing or stating it.”
Kast voted in the 1988 referendum for the continuation of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship and once stated that if Pinochet were alive, he would vote for him.
An intense campaign
Both Jeannette Jara and José Antonio Kast resumed their campaigns the day after the elections, aiming at the second round on December 14th, with tours across different regions of the country.
Jara restarted her territorial outreach in the commune of La Pintana, located in the south of the capital, while Kast travelled to La Araucanía, the epicentre of the historic conflict between the state and the Mapuche people.
“I think the center-left must quickly address the disappointment and demobilisation caused when expectations of over 30% of the vote in the first round were not met,” said our interviewee. On the other hand, he said, Kast’s candidacy does not rely so much on mobilisation, but rather on a behind-the-scenes agreement that allows him to transfer votes, without making much noise, so as not to scare off voters, avoid the spotlight, evade debates, and wait for the votes to fall in the second round “like ripe fruit.”
(Translated by Natasha Greenidge) – Photos: Pixabay
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