Name: Fears over crime, immigration dominate Chiles presidential election
Uploaded: 2025-11-14T15:29:56.531Z
Duration: 3 min 4 s
Description: As Chileans head into the presidential election on Sunday (November 16), concerns over rising crime and immigration have eclipsed economic and social issues, reshaping the political landscape.

As Chileans head into the presidential election on Sunday (November 16), concerns over rising crime and immigration have eclipsed economic and social issues, reshaping the political landscape.

Santiago

As Chile prepares to elect its next president, concerns about rising crime, organized gangs, and immigration have become the central issues for voters. Recent polls indicate that 63% of Chileans now consider crime their top concern, surpassing economic and health issues, amid a notable increase in the country's murder rate and kidnappings linked to organized crime.

The influx of over 500,000 Venezuelan migrants in recent years has fueled an immigration backlash, particularly in northern border regions where criminal activity has surged. The government and presidential candidates are offering differing strategies to address these challenges, with the left advocating legal reforms and the right proposing stricter enforcement and border controls. The election is expected to go to a runoff, with far-right candidate José Antonio Cast currently leading in the polls.

Fears over crime, immigration dominate Chile's presidential election

As Chileans head to vote for their next president on Sunday, fears over crime, organized gangs and immigration are at the front of their minds, a far cry from the wave of left-wing optimism that dominated the last election cycle. It is important that security be the main issue right now. And, hopefully, all the candidates can focus on that, because, without security in this country, we can no longer live. People aren't feeling safe anymore. At night, you can't even go out in your car or to a bar because they might steal your car, too. An October Ipsos poll revealed that crime is now the top concern among 63 percent of Chileans, eclipsing economy, health and education. While Chile remains to be one of the safest countries in Latin America, its murder rate rose from 2.32 per 100,000 in 2015 to 6.0 in 2024. Kidnappings reached an all-time high in 2024, with authorities linking 40 percent of it to organized crime. Shootouts in broad daylight, contract killings and extortion kidnappings, previously very rare in Chile, have now shocked the nation and even stunted economic growth. It comes alongside a wave of Venezuelan migration, with numbers rising in Chile over 500,000 in seven years. That spurred an immigration backlash, which has blurred into the criminal debate. Chile's northern desert borders with Peru and Bolivia have become a flashpoint. The small town of Colchane, where residents were used to leaving doors unlocked, has experienced a wave of break-ins, robberies and even the murder of an elderly woman. In 2021, two women were caught crossing the border with ketamine, a rare drug in Chile at that time. The investigation pointed to Pisiga, a Bolivian town on the other side of Colchane, where a Venezuelan transnational gang, Tren de Aragua, dominated the border in a flow of migrants. Chile's north was relatively unknown to international criminal organizations before large-scale immigration brought it to their attention. Raul Aranzibilla is a former top prosecutor in Tarapaca. Even Chilean criminals, who were not accustomed to such violence, had to adapt, change or integrate. Aranzibilla says criminal gangs can broaden their operations, from trafficking people to trafficking weapons. They expand your business because this is business. These people operate like a large criminal enterprise. The Chilean government says it has arrested hundreds of Tren de Aragua members and has the gang on its back foot, while the current administration says that lifting banking secrecy laws is essential in tackling organized crime. Right-wing candidates disagree and are opting for varying degrees of heavy-handed approaches to fight gangs in STEM migration, including a border wall. Sunday's race pits Yanet Jara, the governing left's coalition candidate from the Communist Party, against an array of right-wing contenders. The race will most likely go to a runoff on December 14, with polls showing far-right José Antonio Cast as a favorite to win.

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