José Antonio Kast, far-right candidate, has arrived at the top of the first round on Sunday. He will face the left candidate, Gabriel Boric, December 19th.
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The banners stay picked up, crumpled in the hands or placed on the shoulders. The activists gathered at the headquarters of the candidate Gabriel Boric (left), in Santiago, after the first round of the presidential election, Sunday, November 21, keep the eyes riveted on their laptop, while the count of the votes arrives at the Drop account. With nearly 98% of the votes, the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast (27.9%) Gabriel Boric (25.7%), announcing the second polarized round that will take place on Sunday, December 19th.
“We thought to come in mind. I am worried because not win an election, it would be one thing but lose it in favor of a retrograde, authoritarian and pro-pinochet candidate [general at the head of the dictatorship, From 1973 to 1990], would be totally different “, sighs Matias, a 41-year-old lawyer, with reference to José Antonio Kast, who, if he recently refused the qualifier of ultradroite has already expressed his affinities with the dictatorship. Sitting on the floor, carmen moral, 39 years, consultant, pulls nervously on a cigarette by discovering the balance of power. “Kast in mind, it’s schizophrenic. I do not understand how a country has been able to vote in favor of a new constitution [more than 78%, at a referendum, in October 2020] and give as many votes to a candidate who clearly rejects the assembly that writes it. “
“Certainly, there is a symbolic enthusiasm for the candidate who arrives in mind but nothing is played for the second round”, Nuance Maria Cristina Escudeo, Politist at the Catholic University of Chile. “This will be a very tight ballot, with two fully opposite projects. On the one hand, that of order and public security carried by José Antonio Kast, on the other that of the transformation [social], carried by Gabriel Boric “, continues the specialist.
” Renew with peace, order and hope “
In the wake of the results announcement, the far-right candidate, a 55-year-old lawyer, Catholique and father of nine children spoke in front of his base, taking care to thank “God ( …) and then, [s] a family “. He celebrated the possibility of “reconnecting with peace, order and hope”, faithful to the calm tone tinged with a smile that characterizes his watch. At the heart of his speech, Sunday, November 21: security, including face “in narcotrafic” and the enamelled conflict around the land claims of the native Population Mapuche, in the south of the country. Sketching a first step towards voters to seduce, he has “opened the door” to those who have so far “looked with distance”.
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