Chile elected its president on Sunday against a backdrop of insecurity and the rise of the far right

For the first time since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1990, the radical right could return to power.

Chileans went to the polls to elect their president on Sunday, November 16, at the end of a campaign centered on organized crime and promises of expulsion of undocumented migrants from right-wing groups, which put left-wing groups on the defensive. For the first time since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1990, the radical right could return to power.

Communist Jeannette Jara, the candidate of the ruling center-left coalition, topped the polls, ahead of her right-wing rival José Antonio Kast. But in a possible second round, he was defeated by a right-wing or far-right candidate, due to voting delays. The far-right is also represented by Johannes Kaiser, of the National Libertarian Party, who is often seen as Chile’s version of Argentine President Javier Milei and is rising in opinion polls.

Although the copper and lithium-rich country remains one of the safest on the continent, crime has increased significantly. The murder rate jumped from 2.5 to 6 per 100,000 residents in a decade and kidnappings hit 868 cases last year, up 76% compared with 2021, according to authorities. The unprecedented violence has clouded the aspirations for change that brought leftist President Gabriel Boric to power in 2022 and his promise, ultimately abandoned, of a new Constitution to replace the one inherited from Pinochet.