Jeannette Jara and José Antonio Kast have completed their campaigns and are already preparing for the day after

End of the game. After mutual accusations, fiery speeches and promises of changes to improve the lives of Chileans, Jeannette Jara And José Antonio Kast They completed their campaign on Thursday for the second round of the presidential elections this Sunday. And when all forecasts point to a victory for the ultra-conservative leader, the candidate from the center-left governing coalition tried until the last minute to convince the undecided and present herself as the best option.

The election propaganda rooms are gone and now the TV news shows are talking about it the possibility that it will rain on election dayl on Sunday, about the security measures planned throughout the country and the operation of public transport so that everyone can reach the polling stations.

on the street, Many people hurry up with their Christmas shopping and take advantage of the offers One of the most popular shops on the emblematic Ahumada pedestrian street in central Santiago, decorated for Christmas and, as always, filled with street vendors selling everything from stockings and underwear to electronic accessories to strawberries and cherries for 1,500 Chilean pesos (around 2,500 Argentine pesos). per kilo.

Inside and surrounded by their trusted employees, Jara and Kast work tirelessly to prepare his speeches on Sunday evening and the day after an election that will mark a bitter end for the government of Gabriel Boric.

The former student leader who won in 2021 with big promises of structural reforms and turned 36 the youngest president in Chile’s historyends his term with a meager 30% popularity, in a climate of disappointment due to unachieved goals.

In an environment of deep polarization, the country will have to choose on Sunday between a future president of the extreme right who promises it a tough hand on crime and a multi-million dollar spending cut to stimulate the economy, or a future leader of the Communist Party who also guarantees resistance to crime but ensures it Maintain and expand social rights The Boric government has managed to ensure that families can make ends meet.

At the end of an intensive four-week election campaign, after the first round in which Jara won with 26.8% of the vote and Kast received 23.9% of the vote – there were a total of eight candidates – the cards have now already fallen.

On Thursday evening they both started theirs final efforts in two events outside Santiago: Jara in Coquimbo in the north of the country and Kast in Temuco in the conflict zone Araucania, where arson attacks attributed to Mapuche groups have sowed fear and tension for years, a conflict that the country’s last presidents have been unable to resolve.

The Republican Party chairman, 59, appeared on stage again behind bulletproof glassdespite criticism he had previously received for protecting himself in this way at campaign events.

Addressing thousands of supporters in a Temuco square, Kast promised “a shock of hope” after years of “chaos, disorder and uncertainty.” “You feel, you feel Kast-President!” the audience chanted.

“We are sure that we will win on Sunday and it will be beautiful. From then on we will have a lot of work. “It will be difficult, it will be difficult, they will try to stop us from doing certain things, but we will put the fate of Chile at risk,” the candidate said.

“This government has created chaos, disorder and uncertainty. And we will take the opposite path: we will create order, security and trust,” added the lawyer and former ultra-Catholic MP among his closest colleagues.

As in his entire election campaign His last speech focused on security and economic issuesand also took the opportunity to express sharp criticism of the Boric government and Jara, which she describes as a continuity of a failed model, despite making enormous efforts to distance herself from the current president.

This government, he explained, “He had everything do things right, there was no pandemic“There was no social explosion, but it destroyed everything, our education and the dream of owning a house.”

Meanwhile, Jara used her final act before the runoff to reaffirm some of her campaign’s priorities, reaffirming that she is not Boric and that her ultimate mandate will be completely different.

Once again, the 51-year-old lawyer, a member of the Communist Party, which is part of the ruling coalition, promised to “defend and show what has been achieved” in terms of labor rights achieved during her term at the head of the Labor Ministry of the current government “strong hand” to fight “crime, abuse, corruption and collusion”.

“The people deserve it come home in the silent night and not believe that she is being attacked. And also make ends meet, pay their bills and hopefully save a little bit,” he said.

The topic of Security It has been central throughout the election campaign as the climate of fear due to the increase in kidnappings and murders is one of Chileans’ biggest concerns. “These two assurances are my commitment to you,” he emphasized.

“To those thinking about voting zero, think about voting white talk to them“There is a lot at stake, we must move forward and not go back, to vote on Sunday with joy, hope and conscience. Thank you, we will win,” Jara delivered his speech, addressing the undecided and the significant mass of Chileans who voted for the populist independent in the first round Franco Parisi, who received more than 19% of the vote and now called for a zero vote, thereby rejecting the two options at stake.

Now we just have to wait for the results on Sunday evening. Kast has put together his plan for the first 90 days He is confident that the elections will not fail and he will certainly keep the doors of the La Moneda presidential palace open, no matter how many votes he receives.