Left Bloc candidate Janet Jara chose Plaza de Maipo, the second municipality with the largest number of voters in Chile, to conclude her campaign for the La Moneda party on Tuesday. It is a strategic area: its mayor is Tomas Vodanovich, the leader of the Broad Front, the highest-ranking politician in the country and the one who voted most in the last local elections in October. The final act, with several musical groups on stage, began on a hot afternoon, when it was really necessary to wear a hat and perhaps even a sun umbrella. The attendees, who numbered 20,000 according to the order, were summoned at six in the evening, but the flag bearer arrived approximately two hours later. He did so while listening to a cumbia and to rapturous applause.
While attendees waited for Jara, many merchants also took advantage of the sale of products related to the public profile: T-shirts bearing the logo of Victor Jara, Che Guevara, Gladys Marin – the first female president of the Communist Party (PC) – and another bearing the face of Italian singer Raffaella Cara with the phrase: “I always vote for the Communists.”
The candidate faces the elections on Sunday, the 16th of this month, with first place in the ballot boxes. He appears certain to go to a runoff, perhaps with far-right Republican Jose Antonio Cast, who also ended his campaign on Tuesday. But according to most opinion polls, Jara’s biggest challenge is defeating the Ultra party in the runoff scheduled for December 14.
Jara is the first communist, since 1990, to reach the presidential elections in a competitive position, and is supported by a bloc of eight other parties. This is precisely what fills 85-year-old Maria Angelika with emotion, who came to support Gabriel Buric, who was also Minister of Labor in the Broad Front government: “For us as communists, our arrival to this day already constitutes a pride that has no name.”
The square was full of people of different generations, including schoolchildren in military uniform who were not yet old enough to cast their votes. A catchy cumbia sound was heard through the speakers, its chorus saying “Minister of the People.” Several Chilean and other flags were raised featuring the candidate illustrated in kauai style. On the other hand, as was the trend in his election campaign, Communist Party flags can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Poster man
Under the sun, 87-year-old Renato Vivanco holds a large banner with his head and feet barely visible. Inscribed on it are the words “History is ours and it is made by the people,” as well as a large photo of Salvador Allende (1970-1973), a photo of Jara and another taken with Boric on the 50th anniversary of the coup. “I was politically exonerated, and lived in exile in the German Democratic Republic for 35 years,” he introduces himself as if it were his autobiography. He says: “I am, in principle, on the left. I am a socialist, and today we must support the communist comrade.”
Vivanco and his poster arouse curiosity. People ask him to take pictures and line up to take a picture with him. One of them is Orlando Contreras, a 66-year-old retiree. She says she supports Jara because of her granddaughters: “I want things to change. She is from the city, she is simple, she is an ordinary woman.” Then he paraphrased Allende: “On Sunday the 16th of this month, the major shopping centers will open their doors.”
Several mayors accompanied Jara, including Matías Toledo, from Puente Alto, the second most vocal after Vodanovich: “Hope will always be ours, my colleagues,” he said from the stage, and Karina Delfino, from Quinta Normal, who highlighted several projects promoted by Jara as minister: the law reducing the working day to 40 hours, increasing the minimum wage and pension reform, among others. Vodanovich, who preceded Jara, was applauded even before he spoke. In his very emotional speech, he alluded to the far right, but without naming it: “Instilling fear can be used to win elections, but it is not useful in building countries.” He added: “Today they say that the wind is against us, and that progressive ideas are losing ground, but countries are not built with the direction of the wind, but rather with the work and will of their people, and these people will give victory to Janet Jara.”
Several parliamentary candidates were also with Jara, including Gustavo Gatica, who went blind during the social outbreak and is in the middle of a trial with an accused police officer. He was the most applauded after Yara and Vodanovic.
Away from the stage, waiting were the leadership of the Presidential Council, President Lautaro Carmona and Secretary General Bárbara Figueroa, who danced with her Frente Amplio counterpart Andres Coble and with Constanza Martinez, President of the Football Federation.
When a warm night fell on Maipo, Gaara made a speech in his own style, without reading it, with some spontaneous interruptions of laughter. She recalled her story: “I never imagined that I would run for the presidency of the republic. Not because I thought I couldn’t do it, but because it was unusual for someone who came from El Cortijo, from Conchali, and who later lived in El Abrazo in Maipo, to open the doors of the seat of government.”
The audience, which was familiar with the electoral scene, besides cheering for her (Feels strong, President Jara!) also chanted: First time, first time!, referring to her election on Sunday and not in a second round.
The standard-bearer stressed that in these elections not only the presidential candidacy is at stake, but also “a state project that looks to the future, completely different from other projects that place hatred, fear and despair at the center.” He added: “Chile is not collapsing, it is a great country.”
Also referring to Caste, who protected himself in his recent speeches, he said: “We are not the ones who promote hatred, on the contrary, and that is why I do not hide behind any glass, because I am not afraid of the people of Chile.”
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