Chile, at a turning point, elects a new president

Chile chooses next Sunday between two opposing views of the country: that of the leftist deputy Gabriel Boric, who proposes a State that guarantees basic universal rights, and the right-wing lawyer José Antonio Kast, who seeks to restore order without touching the free market model .

Boric (35) and Kast (55) present antagonistic proposals for the 19 million inhabitants of Chile, a country with strong inequalities whose society has not been polarized before the elections, according to several analysts.

In the first round of November 21, “Both candidates added 54%, but 46% of the voters voted for the other candidates, therefore (Boric and Kast) were forced to move towards much more moderate or center voters“Said the electoral analyst Mauricio Morales, an academic at the University of Talca.

The demand for a change in political, economic and social course has mobilized Chileans, particularly since the social revolt of October 2019. Since then the slogan “It wasn’t 30 pesos, it was 30 years”, Referring to the fact that it was not the increase in the number of subway fares that triggered the protests, but the three decades in which social inequality has increased hand in hand with economic growth.

But in the campaign for the ballot, what Morales ironically described as “miracle”. Both candidates had to “modify their government programs, even leading them both to value the last 30 years of democratic governments”.

Half of Chilean voters say they are undecided regarding the ballot, practically the same percentage (53%) of people who did not exercise their right to vote in the first round, voluntary since 2012.

“This makes that the big unknown for next Sunday. How many undecided who did not vote in the first round are going to come out this time. That makes us face an unpredictable end”, Warns Claudio Fuentes, political scientist and professor at the Diego Portales University.

Disenchanted and scared

Disenchantment with politicians and their parties in Chile is another reflection of the collapse of trust in all its institutions, a factor that has alienated voters.

But, in addition, according to opinion leaders and sociologists, Sunday’s election resurrected a climate of plebiscite similar to that of 1988, when the public had to vote Yes or No to the continuity of the dictator Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

Kast was a visible part of the Yes; the Boric family, campaigned for no. The citizenry voted to get rid of the military regime.

“A very low turnout (like the current one) also reflects a kind of disenchantment or disgust with the politics and options available”Said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, in Washington.

“People are not as polarized as the two political options ”, Shifter adds, by listing the issues that move a majority: extending social rights and making reforms to improve education and health, “But they also want order and deal with crime”.

The analyst considers that “they are not contradictory ideas”, But the two candidates pushed these proposals as if they were issues for one side or the other.

“There is a lot of misinformation, a lot of exaggerations, like that Boric is another Chávez. In the end, the majority of Chileans who vote on December 19 will do so out of fear of the other. Because they do not want a more right-wing Chile or because they are afraid that Boric will be controlled by the communist party and become another Venezuela“, He said.

In this second round the theme of “peace and order“It penetrated public opinion and they reproached Boric for having supported a law to pardon those detained during the 2019 riots, whom they consider”political prisoners”.

Pinocchio and the lies

Kast, from the Christian Social Front, won in November with 27.91% of the votes; Boric, from the Pact Approve Dignity, of which the Communist Party is part, obtained 25.83%.

But given the fact that only 47% of the 15 million voters went to the polls, both chose to turn to the center and change the most radical points of their programs in fiscal policy, pension funds and gender equality.

The ban on polls 15 days before the elections opened the door to speculation about the outcome of the elections.

In recent days, personal attacks against candidates, especially Boric, have skyrocketed on social media.

“There are campaigns that really seem made by Pinocchio. Therefore, we invite you to always check the information, not to let them tell you stories, that the truth beats the lie”Said the latest Boric ad.