Kast is a far right and Boric is a leftist. Chile reaches this point after two years of social protests that have shaken the country.
The far-right José Antonio Kast on one side, the leftist Gabriel Boric on the other: opposites that will face each other in the second presidential round in a Chile marked by two years of social protests that shook one of the most stable countries in Latin America.
The ballot on December 19 “is going to be an in-depth version of the rhetoric of fear. It will be a choice of one fear against the other ”, the political analyst of the University of Santiago, Marcelo Mella, told AFP.
“The fear of a left-wing Boric candidacy that will not be able to respond to the problems facing the country today or the fear of an ultra-conservative leadership with Kast that will severely damage the basis of pluralism that a democracy should have”, added Mella.
Kast, a 55-year-old lawyer and Republican Party candidate, took first place with almost 28% of the vote with a speech of “peace, order, progress and freedom.”
Chile and its most uncertain choice in 31 years; two favorites wait to see if there is a second round
Boric, deputy, 35-year-old former student leader and candidate of the alliance Approve Dignity – Frente Amplio and Partido Comunista-, got second place with just over 25% of the preferences when identifying with the social protest of October 2019 against social inequality and in search of a new country model.
Two antagonistic versions that face each other in a Chile marked by an “expression of political schizophrenia” that, for Mella, is reflected in the two winning candidates in the elections where 6.8 million of the 15 million citizens called to vote in the elections participated. more uncertain elections since the end of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
Two views of the same Chile
Just a few kilometers apart, Kast and Boric celebrated their passage to the ballot almost at the same time surrounded by supporters and with speeches that point to two opposite realities for the future of Chile when Sebastián Piñera’s term ends in March 2022.
Second round in Chile: Gabriel Boric, the candidate who promises “profound changes” in his country
Kast appealed to return Chile to “tranquility” after it plunged into violence and crime in the framework of the protests that began on October 18, 2019, massive and several with serious acts of violence that left 34 dead and thousands of wounded.
He accused Boric and his allies in the Communist Party, as the cause of “instability” with his presidential project.
“They want to continue advancing on the path of hatred, intolerance and destruction because they have endorsed violence and hatred and that has to end,” said Kast.
But Boric decided to deliver a measured message without underestimating or caricaturing his adversary. The young leftist pointed out that his project is “transformative, serious and responsible” and that it “ensures the best quality of life for all” Chileans.
“We do not go out to the streets so that everything remains the same,” he said.
Gain support towards the center
If the two candidates agree on something, it is that they need to win support from the traditional center politics, whose parties and leaders were buried on Sunday by voters who also elected deputies, senators and regional councilors.
Second round in Chile: José Antonio Kast is presented as the presidential candidate of the order
“Kast is not going to be the hyperconservative nor Boric the hyperrevolutionary. They will have to get more votes and that will be achieved in intermediate forces, “former presidential adviser Ernesto Ottone told AFP.
“The fact that the center-left and the center-right are not in the second round is a bit cheating, because the right voted for Kast, obviously, even though it was committed to Sichel. And from the point of view of the center-left, there was already a fall in that sector and a certain reverie of a sector of the center-left with Boric ”, said Ottone.
The ruling party Sebastián Sichel, endorsed by the Piñera government, came in fourth place with 12% of the votes and Senator of the Christian Democracy Yasna Provoste was fifth with 11%.
– The key is Parisi –
The liberal candidate Franco Parisi surprised with a third place thanks to the support of almost 13% of the voters, despite residing in the United States and having campaigned only through the interne without setting foot in Chile during the electoral process.
“They are going to be the votes that will have to be disputed in the second round,” Rodrigo Espinoza, an academic from the Diego Portales University, told AFP. (I)
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