Chile’s political future could hinge on enigmatic Alabama-based economist

Chile is gearing up for a polarized presidential runoff next month between a 35-year-old leftist former student leader and an ultra-conservative who has vowed to crack down on crime.

But perhaps the most influential actor in the December 19 head-to-head showdown, analysts say, is a NASCAR motorsport enthusiast who lives in Alabama.

In Sunday’s vote, former far-right congressman José Antonio Kast finished on top with 27.9% of the vote, while lawmaker Gabriel Boric came in second with 25.8%.

Since both fell well below the 50% threshold required to win, they now struggle to forge alliances and win over voters who chose other contenders.

At the forefront is candidate Franco Parisi, a popular 54-year-old economist who surprised by coming third with 12.8% of the votes, despite never setting foot in Chile during the campaign. In some northern cities, including the mining centers of Antofagasta and Calama, it won by significant margins.

Observers say his supporters are more anti-establishment than leftists or conservatives, making it difficult to predict where their votes will go. But with Boric and closet locked in an extremely competitive race, they will be key to the result.

In a survey conducted in early November by Activa Research, Parisi’s voters favored Boric in a theoretical second round, although the slightest difference was within the margin of error.

Some analysts, extrapolating trends in previous elections, believe that Kast could perform slightly better than those polls suggest.

The director of the consultancy Tresquintos, Kenneth Bunker, considered that a greater amount of Parisi suffrages would migrate towards Kast.

“Even if I would like to vote for Boric, I am going to vote for Kast, because, even if it is much more extreme, I want stability”Said Luis Bugueño, a 22-year-old financial consultant in northern Coquimbo, who voted for Parisi in the first round.

“I do not want that tomorrow (Chile) becomes one of our neighboring countries and that we are in the same situation trying to start (migrate)”, He pointed out.

According to local media reports, Parisi lives in a Birmingham suburb and previously taught at the University of Alabama. He told the local newspaper Diario Financiero in September that he likes the southern United States because it is safe, cheap and has good public schools.

Their policies often tend to the right on economic issues and to the left on social issues, but they are often idiosyncratic and difficult to pin down.

He does not plan to endorse a candidate in the ballot, but will conduct a digital poll among his supporters in December to see who they prefer, the spokesman said in a radio interview. Juan Marcelo Valenzuela.

Parisi is not the only candidate whose voters are at stake in the second round. The center-right ruling party Sebastian Sichel and the center-left Yasna Provoste they received more than 10% of the vote on Sunday, which means their voters will also be crucial.

But both candidates have ideologies easier to define. While neither has endorsed a candidate in the second round, Sichel has said he will not vote for Boric and Provoste has said it would not vote for closet.

The followers of ParisiMeanwhile, they remain a mystery.