The analysis of the Chilean center-right party and his role in the country’s recent political processes takes on a new dimension in the book The liberal right exists (Ariel, 2025), written by Hernan Larraín. This work, combining personal narrative and documentary rigor, will become a reference for those who want to understand how a country with a democratic tradition and relative stability can endure serious crises while pursuing reformist solutions without abandoning pluralism or liberal values.
The liberal right exists
E-book
Larraín’s text claims, by its own conclusion, that the Chilean constitutional plan was a political response to prevent institutional overflow, although in the end the country was unable to agree on a new constitutional text.
In the last pages of the book, the author emphasizes that the social outbreak of October 2019 played a role in the words of the left-wing intellectual Rodrigo Karmya “destitutive” moment that forcibly transformed politics into “constitutive.” Larraín affirms: “Many of us were aware that Chile’s problem was unconstitutional.
The constitutive path was the proposal of politics, which at the time had few instruments to avoid institutional flooding. Any evaluation must keep this purpose in mind, despite the fact that Chile was ultimately unable to present a new constitutional text.”
The book covers the most important milestones in the recent history of chilifrom the social outbreak of 2019 to the constitutional process and the governments of Sebastián Piñera. Larraín offers a nuanced interpretation of events, acknowledging both the economic and social progress of recent decades and the accumulated unrest that manifested itself in various forms, both peaceful and violent.
The author identifies three political readings of the outbreak: one that attributes it to the reaction against thirty years of neoliberalism, another that sees it as a criminal phenomenon driven by internal and external actors, and a third with which he himself agrees, which recognizes the country’s progress as well as the existence of real unrest and the instrumentalization of discontent by some parts of the left.
Larraín claims: “The country experienced thirty years of progress unprecedented in our history, but also recognizes the accumulation of real unrest and peaceful expressions of discontent, exploited by some left-wing groups that showed weak democratic loyalty.”
In analyzing the constitutive process, Larraín raises the question of how a democracy can channel deep conflicts without falling into polarization. The Chilean experience, says the author, demonstrated the risks of fragmentation and the importance of seeking consensus and respecting institutions. The Constitutional Convention and the 2022 referendum highlight the difficulty of governing in contexts of high political tension.
The portrait of Sebastian Pinera (1949–2024) occupies a relevant place in the work. Larraín describes the former president as a leader who understood the country’s social diversity and the need for democratic leadership and values. The author emphasizes: “History will remember that the right in power, with Sebastián Piñera at the helm, chose not violence but democracy at a critical moment.”
Nevertheless, a few weeks after the peace agreement and the new constitution, the leftists accused him of constitutional corruption, portraying his opportunism and political misjudgment. In this sense, one can say that Piñera’s government had to confront two sides: an opportunist left that demanded his head and a hard right that distrusted the democratic solution.”
The creation of Evopoli (Political evolution) is another central focus of the book. Larraín tells how, along with Felipe Kastrecognized the need to bring together a generation that, because of its minority, had not taken part in the 1988 referendum, a generation that emerged in a more diverse and democratic Chile. This belief gave rise to Evópoli, the first center-right party founded after the dictatorship with a liberal and democratic ideology.
The author emphasizes: “The first challenge was to bring together the generation that, because of its minority status, failed to vote in the 1988 plebiscite. That is, the generation that grew up in a more diverse and plural world than the one in which our parents and grandparents lived during the Cold War, and whose experience in Chile was overwhelmingly democratic.”
Larraín highlights Evópoli’s decision to remain in the right-wing coalition in order to renew it from within rather than replace it. The value of liberal diversity and influence across the political spectrum are elements that, according to the author, strengthen the party: “The big liberal family is more powerful when its relatives are spread out and influence the entire spectrum.”
Furthermore, he recognizes that the internal strife between conservatives and libertarians does not weaken Evópoli, but rather represents the source of its dynamism: “Evópoli’s ideological profile, pushed between conservatives and libertarians but always remaining within certain limits, has always been controversial. This is not necessarily a problem as long as it is a vibrant party open to debate and reflection.”
The value of Larraín’s story goes beyond the Chilean case and offers lessons for all. Latin America. The author emphasizes the importance of restoring the radicalism of liberalism, understood as the ability to build with the ideological opponent and not against him: “Radicality, to build with the ideological opponent and not against him.” The experience of Evópoli and the Chilean liberal right shows that it is possible to develop responsible political projects that are open to change and centered on citizens, even in contexts of polarization and populist pressure.
The liberal right exists Integrating history, personal experiences and political analysis, it allows us to understand the evolution of the Chilean center-right, its role in critical moments and its ability to renew in the face of the challenges of governability and political modernization in the region.
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