Chile’s presidential election is scheduled to be held in a runoff election in December between communist and far-right candidates. There was no outright winner in Sunday’s first round of voting.
In recent years, crime and immigration have dominated election campaigns as migration to Venezuela has increased and candidates have promised to fight foreign gangs such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
Jeannette Jara, a member of the ruling coalition’s Communist Party, narrowly won the first round, while far-right candidate José Antonio Kast narrowly won.
The results are expected to give a boost to Kast, as Jara is the only left-wing candidate running against several right-wing candidates who have split the right-wing vote.
Voters will have to rally around one of these two candidates in the December 14 runoff election.
Caste is expected to get votes from other candidates who did not make it to the final two, including center-right senator Evelyn Matthei and radical liberal lawmaker Johannes Kaiser.
If this were to happen, Chile would become the latest country in Latin America to move to the right.
Kast is a conservative lawyer and former member of parliament who lost to President Gabriel Borrick in a runoff election in 2021. This is his third run for president.
The father of nine is pushing for a tough crackdown on immigration, including a Trump-style “border wall,” opposes abortion even in cases of rape, criticizes environmental and indigenous activism and wants to shrink the state.
His older brother was a minister during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, and his father was a member of the Nazi Party.
In a speech on election night, he said Chile must “avoid a series of very bad governments.” Perhaps the worst government in the history of Chilean democracy.
Jara is a member of the Communist Party, but in reality many people see her as center-left. She was a minister in President Borrick’s government, and her platform included increasing lithium production, raising the minimum wage, building new prisons, and deploying troops to protect Chile’s borders.
As the results came in, she said: “Our country’s democracy must be cared for and cherished. Restoring democracy will cost a lot of money. Today, democracy is at risk.”
Both candidates have pledged to address crime and immigration as organized crime and kidnappings increase in the country.
Chile’s foreign population has increased since 2017. The National Immigration Service said the number exceeded 1.9 million in December 2023. According to official estimates, at least 330,000 people are undocumented immigrants living in the country illegally, many of them from Venezuela.
Although Kast attributed the rise in crime to immigration, several studies have shown that foreign-born people commit less crime on average than Chileans.
Perceived as more prosperous and safer than other Latin American countries, Chile is a desirable destination for immigrants from the region and those returning from the United States following President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Caste has promised to build a ditch along Chile’s northern border with Peru and Bolivia and to deport large numbers of undocumented immigrants and those who entered the country illegally.
He also promised new, highest-security prisons like those built in El Salvador.
Jara has promised to build new prisons and deport foreigners convicted of drug trafficking.
This was the first election in which all eligible voters were automatically registered to vote, and voting was compulsory in Chile.
