José Antonio Kast and Jeanette Jara ended the election campaign before tomorrow’s runoff election in Chile with two big events. The candidates for La Moneda Palace presented an agenda in which security played a central role, despite ideological differences for both. According to the last available polls before the election ban, Kast is the favorite to win the runoff, with a double-digit lead over Jara.
The far-right candidate José Antonio Kast completed his election campaign behind bulletproof glass in Temuco, Araucania region. In front of more than 5,000 people, he spoke out against his rival and the legacy of current President Gabriel Boric. “This government has created chaos, disorder and insecurity. And we will go the opposite way: we will create order, security and trust,” he declared to applause from his supporters.
The Araucanía region is experiencing frequent arson attacks attributed to both radicalized groups claiming land and gangs dedicated to timber theft. From then on, Kast promised to unleash “a shock of hope.” In his platform, the candidate promises to fight crime by detaining and deporting nearly 340,000 illegal migrants living in Chile.
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One of his voters at the campaign event, lawyer Víctor Badilla, 39, assured that Kast was “the best option” for Chile due to “uncertainty.” Although Chile is one of the safest countries in the region, crime and violence are the population’s top concern at 63%, according to an October Ipsos poll.
In addition to irregular immigration, the issue dominated the election campaign. Jara herself was forced to focus her campaign primarily on security rather than her social rights agenda.
For graduation, Jara chose a location in the municipality of Puente Alto, south of Santiago. Although one of his main promises is to raise the minimum wage to almost $800 – $250 more than the current level – he concluded his campaign by stressing that he would strengthen the police to fight organized crime, addressing the country’s main concern.
“We will work for public safety. Everyone in Chile deserves to live in peace. Police presence is needed in all neighborhoods and that is why we will strengthen it,” the candidate said. Jara promised that he would intervene in a hundred neighborhoods to “dismantle places where drugs are collected and sold and remove the weapons that are running on the streets.”
“With Jara, the pension system was changed, the working day was shortened to forty hours, the minimum wage was increased. With Kast, I feel like we would go back many years. That scares me,” said Johanna Estolaza, a 52-year-old accountant.
The latest polls suggest Kast will have a solid, double-digit lead in the runoff. According to Cadem, the right-wing candidate would get 58% of the vote, compared to 42% for Jara. The difference lies in the transfer of support to other right-wing candidates: 92% of Johannes Kaiser’s voters and 60% of Evelyn Matthei’s voters would now turn to Kast.
Tomorrow Chile will return to the polls to determine the country’s future leadership.
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