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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Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
South Korea estimates North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, its defence minister said on Thursday, citing a range significantly higher than U.S. President Donald Trump's recent assertion that Pyongyang has 57 nuclear weapons.
Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has killed at least sixteen people and injured more than forty others, Ukrainian officials said, with fires reported across the city and Poland activating defensive air operations.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of August, covering the latest developments.
Britain has summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires and demanded that the Israeli government withdraw a tender for construction in the controversial E1 settlement area in the West Bank.
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