Far-right candidate José Antonio Kast is gaining momentum ahead of Chile’s 14 December runoff, despite trailing slightly behind Communist-backed Jeannette Jara in the first round of voting.
Chile’s presidential election will go to a runoff next month, after no candidate secured an outright majority in Sunday’s first round. Jeannette Jara, representing the governing coalition and the first Communist Party member to reach the final ballot, led with 27% of the vote. Kast followed closely with 24%, according to near-complete results published by electoral authorities.
The 14 December head-to-head vote will present Chileans with a stark ideological choice between Jara’s left-leaning reform agenda and Kast’s hardline platform on crime and immigration.
Kast, who lost the 2021 election to current President Gabriel Boric, has shifted focus to security issues amid growing public concern over organised crime and border control.
“Today, it became clear that the opposition defeated a failed government,” Kast told supporters, promising to crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
“The real victory will be when Chile returns to growth,” he added.
Jara, a former labour minister, has campaigned on raising the minimum wage, expanding healthcare access and enhancing police capacity. She framed the contest as a choice about transparency, accusing Kast of resisting anti-corruption measures such as lifting banking secrecy.
“To those who refuse, like Kast, to lift banking secrecy, I say: he who does nothing, fears nothing,” Jara said in a televised statement.
President Gabriel Boric congratulated both candidates and urged voters to participate in the decisive round.
“Sunday, December 14, Chile will hold its presidential election, electing the country’s next leader, who will govern for the next four years,” he said.
This election is the first to take place under Chile’s new system of automatic and compulsory voter registration, significantly expanding the electorate. Analysts say the tight margin reflects a polarised political climate, with economic pressures and crime now overtaking social reform as key issues.
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Thousands of people gathered across Europe and beyond over the weekend in solidarity with Ukraine, as the war with Russia entered its fifth year.
A powerful winter storm has brought large parts of the U.S. Northeast to a standstill, dumping more than a foot of snow across several states and severely disrupting transport and daily life.
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